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COLONEL 

THOMAS  BLOOD 

CROWN  -  STEALER 
1618-1680 


BY 

WILBUR    CORTEZ   ABBOTT 

Professor  or  History,  Sheffield  Scientific  School 
Yale  University 


NEW  HAVEN:  YALE  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

LONDON:   HENRY   FROWDE 

OXFORD   UNIVERSITY    PRESS 

MCMXI 


I-1H 


Copyright,   1910,  by 
Edward     Wheelock 

Copyright,    1911,   by 
Yale  University  Press 


•  •       •     1 
>•   •       »    • 

•  •  •••  • 


GENESEE     PRESS 
ROCHESTER,  N.V. 


Colonel  Thomas  Blood 

The  story  which  follows  is,  without  doubt, 
one  of  the  most  curious  and  extraordinary  in 
English  history.  It  is,  in  fact,  so  remarkable 
that  it  seems  necessary  to  begin  by  assuring 
the  cautious  reader  that  it  is  true.  Much  as  it 
may  resemble  at  times  that  species  of  literature 
known  in  England  as  the  shilling  shocker  and 
in  America  as  the  dime  novel,  its  material  is 
drawn,  not  from  the  perfervid  imagination 
of  the  author,  but  from  sources  whose  very 
nature  would  seem  to  repudiate  romance.  The 
dullest  and  most  sedate  of  official  publications, 
Parliamentary  reports,  memoranda  of  minis- 
ters, warrants  to  and  from  officers  and  gaol- 
ers, newsletters  full  of  gossip  which  for  two 
hundred  years  and  more  has  ceased  to  be 
news,  these  would  seem  to  offer  little  promise 
of  human  interest. 

Yet  even  these  cannot  well  disguise  the  fas- 
cination of  a  life  like  that  of  Thomas  Blood. 
The  tale  of  adventure  has  always  divided 
honours  with  the  love  story.  And  such  a 
career  as  his,  full  of  mystery,  of  personal  dar- 
ing, and  the  successful  defiance  of  law  by  one 
on  whom  its  provisions  seem  to  have  borne 


Mll4tf!)i; 


6  COLONEL   THOMAS  BLOOD 

too  hardly,  cannot  be  obscured  even  by  the 
digest  of  official  documents.  Moreover  it  has 
historical  significance.  This  most  famous  and 
successful  of  English  lawbreakers  was  no  com- 
mon criminal.  In  a  sense  he  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  an  important  class  during  a  critical 
period  of  history.  Not  merely  to  the  Old 
Englander,  but  to  those  interested  in  the  rise 
of  the  New  England  beyond  seas,  the  fate  of 
the  irreconcilable  Puritans,  no  less  than  that 
of  their  more  submissive  brethren,  must  seem 
of  importance.  This  is  the  more  true  in  that 
no  small  number  of  the  men  whose  names  ap- 
pear in  this  narrative  played  parts  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  younger  Vane,  who 
had  been  the  governor  of  Massachusetts,  in 
1636,  and  whose  execution  marked  the  early 
years  of  Restoration  vengeance,  is  the  most 
striking  of  these  figures.  Next  to  him  come 
the  fugitive  regicides,  GorTe,  Whalley  and 
Dixwell,  who  lived  out  their  days  in  New 
Haven,  Hartford  and  Hadley.  It  is  not 
so  well  known,  however,  that  Venner,  whose 
insurrection  in  the  early  days  of  the  Restora- 
tion was  one  of  the  most  dramatic  and 
important  events  of  that  time,  was  at  one 
time  a  resident  of  Salem.  Still  less  is  it 
likely  to  be  known  that  Paul  Hobson,  one  of 
the  contrivers  and  the  involuntary  betrayer  of 


CRO  WN  -  S  TEALER  7 

the  great  plot  of  1663,  was  later  allowed  to  re- 
move to  Carolina.  The  relationship  of  Law- 
rence Washington,  whose  activities  in  the 
early  years  of  Charles  IFs  reign  gave  the  gov- 
ernment such  anxiety,  to  the  VVashingtons 
who  settled  in  Virginia  has  been  vigorously 
denied.  But  certainly  no  small  element  among 
these  irreconcilables  found  sympathy,  support 
or  refuge  among  their  brethren  in  the  New 
World.  And  it  was  perhaps  no  more  than 
chance  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  did  not 
become  governor  of  an  English  colony  in 
America. 

This  essay  began  as  a  serious  historical 
study,  whose  larger  results  are  chronicled  in 
another  place.  But  it  grew  insensibly  into  the 
only  form  of  composition  which  seemed  to  do 
it  any  sort  of  justice,  a  species  of  story.  It  is, 
in  short,  a  romance,  which  differs  from  its  kind 
chiefly  in  that  it  has  a  larger  proportion  of 
truth.  On  the  other  hand  it  lacks  in  equal 
measure  what  is  generally  superabundant  in 
such  works,  a  plot.  It  has  a  plot,  indeed  many 
plots,  but  it  is  not  always  easy  to  determine 
just  what  the  plot  is  or  what  relation  the  hero 
or  villain  as  you  like,  bears  to  it.  It  has,  above 
all,  a  mystery  which  may  atone  for  its  short- 
comings in  other  directions.  And  it  has,  final- 
ly,  for  its  central  figure  a  character  whose 


8  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

strange,  surprising  adventures  were  the  marvel 
of  his  day  and  are  not  greatly  dimmed  by  the 
dust  of  two  centuries.  On  these  grounds  it 
seems  not  unprofitable  nor  uninteresting  to 
contemplate  again  and  in  a  new  light  the  life 
and  works  of  the  man  who  has  been  generally 
conceded  the  bad  eminence  of  being  the  most 
daring  and  successful  of  English  rascals, 
Thomas  Blood,  courtesy-colonel  of  conspiracy 
and  crown-stealer.  The  scene  of  his  activity 
was  that  brilliant  and  obscure  period  we  know 
as  the  Restoration,  those  years  during  which 
his  most  gracious  Majesty,  King  Charles  the 
Second,  of  far  from  blessed  memory,  presided 
over  the  destinies  of  the  English  race.  And 
you  are,  if  you  wish,  to  transport  yourself  at 
once  into  the  very  midst  of  the  reign  of  him 
who  for  his  wit  and  wickedness  has  been  for- 
ever miscalled  the  Merry  Monarch. 


The  great  event  of  the  winter  of  1 670-1  in 
English  politics  and  society  was  a  circum- 
stance unprecedented  in  European  affairs,  the 
visit  of  the  head  of  the  House  of  Orange  to 
the  English  Court.  The  young  Prince  Wil- 
liam, soon  to  become  the  ruler  of  Holland, 
and  later  King  of  England,  made  this,  his  first 
visit  to  the  nation  which  one  day  he  was  to 


CROWN -STEALER  9 

rule,  ostensibly  to  pay  his  respects  to  his  uncle 
Charles  who  was  then  King,  and  his  uncle 
James,  who  was  Duke  of  York.  Beside  this 
his  journey  was  officially  declared  to  have  no 
other  purpose  than  pleasure  and  the  transac- 
tion of  some  private  business.  What  affairs  of 
state  were  then  secretly  discussed  by  this  pre- 
cocious statesman  of  nineteen  and  His  British 
Majesty's  ministers  of  the  Cabal,  we  have  no 
need  to  inquire  here,  nor  would  our  inquiries 
produce  much  result  were  they  made.  The 
web  of  political  intrigue  then  first  set  on  the 
roaring  loom  of  time  which  was  to  plunge 
all  England  into  agitation  and  revolution  and 
unrest,  and  all  western  Europe  into  war,  has, 
for  the  moment,  little  to  do  with  this  story. 
There  was  enough  in  the  external  aspects  of 
his  visit  to  fill  public  attention  then  and  to 
serve  our  purpose  now.  The  five  months  of 
his  stay  were  one  long  round  of  gayety.  Balls, 
receptions,  and  dinners,  horse-races,  cocking 
mains,  gaming  and  drinking  bouts  followed 
each  other  in  royal  profusion.  And  a  mar- 
riage already  projected  between  the  Prince 
and  his  cousin,  the  Princess  Mary,  gave  a 
touch  of  romance  to  the  affair,  only  qualified 
by  the  fact  that  she  still  played  at  dolls  in  the 
nursery. 

The  court  was  not  alone  in  its  efforts  to  en- 


io  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

tertain  the  young  prince.  The  ministers,  the 
leaders  of  the  opposition,  and  many  private 
individuals  beside,  lent  their  energies  to  this 
laudable  end.  The  work  was  taken  up  by 
certain  public  or  semi-public  bodies.  And,  in 
particular,  the  corporation  of  the  great  city 
of  London  felt  that  among  these  festivities  it 
must  not  be  outdone  in  paying  some  attention 
to  the  most  distinguished  citizen  of  the  neigh- 
bouring republic,  who,  as  it  happened,  was 
also  the  most  promising  Protestant  candidate 
for  the  English  throne.  Accordingly  on  the 
afternoon  of  Tuesday,  December  6,  1670,  as 
the  custom  then  was,  they  tendered  him  a 
banquet  at  Guildhall  where  were  assembled 
the  wealth  and  beauty  of  the  city  to  do  him 
honour.  The  great  function,  apart  from  a 
subtle  political  significance  which  might  have 
been  noted  by  a  careful  and  well-informed 
observer,  was  not  unlike  others  of  that  long 
series  of  splendid  hospitalities  by  which  the 
greatest  city  in  the  world  has  been  accustomed 
for  centuries  to  welcome  its  distinguished 
guests.  There  was  the  same  splendour  of 
civic  display,  the  same  wealth  of  courses,  the 
same  excellent  old  wine,  doubtless  the  same 
excellent  old  speeches.  And  in  spite  of  the 
greatness  of  the  event  and  the  position  and 
importance  of  the  guest  of  honour,  the  glories 


CRO  WN  ■  S TEALER  1 1 

of  this  noble  feast,  like  those  of  so  many  of  its 
fellows,  might  well  have  passed  into  that 
oblivion  which  enfolds  dead  dinner  parties  had 
it  not  been  that  before  the  evening  was  over 
it  had  become  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  most 
daring  and  sensational  adventures  in  the  an- 
nals of  crime,  the  famous  attempt  on  the  Duke 
of  Ormond. 

This  extraordinary  exploit,  remarkable  in 
itself  for  its  audacity  and  the  mystery  which 
surrounded  it,  was  made  doubly  so  by  the 
eminence  and  character  of  its  victim.  James 
Butler,  famous  then  and  since  as  "the  great 
Duke  of  Ormond,"  bearer  of  a  score  of  titles, 
member  of  the  Council,  sometime  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  and  still  Lord  High  Steward 
of  England,  was  by  birth  and  ability  one  of  the 
greatest,  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  men  in 
the  three  Kingdoms.  He  was,  moreover, 
scarcely  less  distinguished  for  his  noble  char- 
acter than  for  his  high  rank.  Neither  these 
nor  the  circumstances  of  his  career  in  public 
life  gave  any  apparent  ground  for  belief  that 
he  was  in  danger  of  personal  violence.  During 
the  Civil  Wars  he  had  followed  the  fortunes 
of  King  Charles  the  father  with  courage  and 
fidelity,  though  with  no  great  success.  When 
the  royal  cause  was  lost  he  followed  Charles 
the  son  into  exile.     When  monarchy  was  re- 


12  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

stored  he  regained  his  ancient  estates  and 
dignities,  he  was  made  the  virtual  ruler  of 
Ireland  and  with  his  two  friends,  the  Chancel- 
lor, Clarendon,  and  the  Treasurer,  Southamp- 
ton, completed  a  triumvirate  which  dominated 
English  affairs  during  the  first  half  dozen  years 
of  the  Restoration.  When  our  story  opens, 
Southampton  was  dead,  Clarendon  in  exile. 
But  Ormond,  last  of  the  staunch  Protestants 
and  stately  Cavaliers  of  the  old  regime,  re- 
mained conspicuous  in  a  corrupt  and  worth- 
less court  for  his  ability  and  his  virtues.  By 
reason  of  these,  as  well  as  his  office,  he  had 
been  chosen  on  this  occasion  to  accompany 
the  Prince  of  Orange  to  the  city  feast.  And 
by  reason  of  his  years  he  had,  before  the  con- 
cluding revels  of  the  younger  men,  left  the 
banquet  to  return  home  and  so  found  his 
way  into  a  most  surprising  adventure  and 
this  story. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  he  lived  in  a 
mansion  opposite  St.  James's  palace,  built  by 
his  friend  the  Chancellor  and  still  known  as 
Clarendon  House.  His  establishment,  like  that 
of  most  men  of  rank  in  those  days,  was  on  a 
scale  almost  feudal.  It  included  some  scores 
of  servants,  companions  and  dependents  of  the 
family.  A  porter  sat  at  the  gate,  day  and  night, 
and  when  the  Duke  went  abroad  in  his  chariot 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  1 3 

he  was  attended  by  six  footmen,  a  coachman 
and  a  runner.  It  would  have  seemed  that  in 
the  three  kingdoms  there  was  scarce  a  man 
who,  by  virtue  of  his  position,  character  and 
surroundings,  was  less  likely  to  be  exposed  to 
violence  than  he.  What  enemies  he  might 
have  made  in  his  administration  of  Ireland,  if 
such  there  were,  could  at  best  be  men  of  little 
importance,  living  besides  in  a  land  then  as 
distant  from  London  as  the  United  States  is 
to-day.  They  would,  presumably,  not  be  well 
informed  of  his  movements,  least  of  all  of  his 
social  engagements,  and  they  would  be  help- 
less in  the  midst  of  London,  against  the  power 
at  his  command.  What  rivals  he  had  in  Eng- 
land, it  might  be  premised  from  their  station, 
would  be  far  above  the  practice  of  personal 
assault  as  a  means  of  political  triumph.  Cer- 
tainly nothing  could  have  been  farther  from 
his  thoughts  or  those  of  his  family  than  that 
any  danger  beyond  a  possible  attack  of  in- 
digestion could  threaten  him  in  connection 
with  a  Guildhall  dinner.  As  the  early  winter 
evening  came  on,  therefore,  the  porter  dozed 
at  the  gate,  the  family  and  servants  retired 
early,  according  to  the  better  customs  of  a 
ruder  age,  and  the  quiet  of  a  house  at  peace 
with  itself  and  the  world  settled  down  on  the 
little  community  within  its  walls. 


14  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

It  was  of  short  duration.  When  the  lumber- 
ing seventeenth  century  chariot  was  heard 
making  its  way  up  the  street  on  its  return 
about  eight  o'clock,  the  porter  roused  from  his 
nap  and  came  out  to  unbar  the  gates  for  the 
home-coming  Duke.  But  to  his  dismay  there 
was  no  Duke,  and  neither  footmen  nor  runner, 
only  an  empty  coach  and  a  frightened  coach- 
man, crying  that  they  had  been  set  upon  by 
seven  or  eight  men  in  St.  James  Street  almost 
in  sight  of  the  house,  that  the  footman,  lag- 
ging behind  on  the  hill,  had  been  overpowered 
or  put  to  flight,  that  the  Duke  had  been 
dragged  out  of  the  chariot  and  carried  off 
down  Piccadilly  way,  and  that  he  was,  perhaps, 
already  killed.  The  porter  was  a  man  of 
courage  and  decision.  He  gave  the  alarm  and, 
with  a  certain  James  Clark,  one  of  the  Duke's 
household,  who  happened  to  be  passing 
through  the  courtyard  when  the  coach  came 
in,  hastened  off  in  the  direction  indicated. 
They  found  no  one  at  the  place  where  the 
attack  had  been  made,  but  hurrying  on  past 
Devonshire  House  they  came  upon  two  men 
struggling  in  the  mud  of  the  Knightsbridge 
road.  As  they  approached,  one  of  the  com- 
batants, a  man  of  huge  stature,  struggled  to 
his  feet.  He  was  immediately  joined  by  an- 
other who  appeared  from  the  shadows,  and 


CROWN    STEALER 


'5 


both  fired  their  pistols  at  the  prostrate  figure. 
Then,  without  waiting  to  see  the  result,  the 
ruffians  mounted  their  horses  which  had  mean- 
while been  held  by  a  third  man,  and  rode  off. 
The  rescuers,  joined  by  many  persons  whom 
their  alarm  had  brought  together,  hurried  to 
the  man  in  the  road.  He  was  too  far  spent  for 
words  and  in  the  darkness  was  unrecognizable 
from  dirt  and  wounds.  It  was  only  by  feeling 
the  great  star  of  the  order  of  the  Garter  on 
his  breast  that  they  identified  him  as  the  Duke. 
He  was  carried  home  and  though  much  shaken 
by  his  adventure  was  found  otherwise  unin- 
jured and  after  some  days  he  fully  recovered. 
His  account  of  the  night's  happenings  added 
a  curious  detail  to  the  history  of  the  attack 
and  explained  why  he  had  been  found  so  far 
from  where  the  coach  was  stopped.  The  plan 
of  his  assailants,  it  appeared,  was  not  merely 
to  capture  or  kill  him,  nor,  as  might  have  been 
supposed,  to  hold  him  for  ransom.  They  pro- 
posed, instead,  to  carry  him  to  the  place  of 
public  execution,  Tyburn,  and  hang  him  from 
the  gallows  there  like  a  common  criminal.  In 
pursuance  of  this  design  they  had  mounted 
him  behind  the  large  man,  to  whom  he  was 
securely  bound,  while  the  leader  rode  on  to 
adjust  t lie  rope  that  there  might  be  no  delay 
at  the  gallows.     When,  however,  the  others 


16  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

failed  to  appear,  this  man  rode  back  and  found 
that  the  Duke,  despite  his  age,  had  managed 
to  throw  himself  and  his  companion  from  their 
horse  and  so  gain  time  till  help  came.1 

Such  was  the  extraordinary  attempt  on  the 
Duke  of  Ormond,  than  which  no  event  of  the 
time  showed  more  daring  and  ingenuity,  nor 
created  as  great  a  sensation.  The  assailants 
were  not  recognized  by  the  Duke  nor  his 
men,  no  assignable  motive  for  their  actions 
could  be  given,  nor  any  further  trace  of  them 
discovered.  And  this  was  not  from  lack  of 
effort.  The  court,  the  city,  and  the  admin- 
istration were  deeply  stirred  by  the  outrage, 
and  the  whole  machinery  of  state  was  set  in 
motion  to  discover  and  apprehend  the  crim- 
inals. Unprecedented  rewards  were  offered, 
the  ports  were  watched,  the  local  authorities 
warned  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  despera- 
does, and  spies  were  sent  in  every  direction  to 
gain  information.  The  House  of  Lords  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  no  less  than  sixty-nine 
peers  to  examine  into  "the  late  barbarous 
assaulting,  wounding  and  robbing  the  Lord 
High  Steward  of  His  Majesty's  Household." 

For  more  than  a  month  this  august  body, 
aided  by  the  secret  service  officers,  pursued  its 


'Carte,  Life  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond. 


CRO  WN  ■  STEALER  1 7 

investigations.  The  result  was  small.  The 
most  important  testimony  was  that  of  a 
"drawer"  at  the  Bull  Tavern,  Charing  Cross. 
He  deposed  that  on  the  day  of  the  assault, 
between  six  and  seven  in  the  evening,  five 
men  on  horseback,  with  cloaks,  who  said  they 
were  graziers,  rode  up  to  the  inn.  They  dis- 
mounted, ordered  wine,  some  six  pints  in  all, 
and  sat  there,  drinking,  talking  and  finally, 
having  ordered  pipes  and  tobacco,  smoking 
for  nearly  an  hour.  About  seven  o'clock  a 
man  came  by  on  foot  crying,  "Make  way  for 
the  Duke  of  Ormond,"  and  shortly  after  the 
Duke's  coach  passed  by.  Fifteen  minutes 
later  the  five  men  paid  their  reckoning  and 
rode  off,  still  smoking,  toward  the  Hay 
Market  or  Pall  Mall,  leaving  behind  some 
wine,  which  the  boy  duly  drank.  Beside  this, 
a  certain  Michael  Beresford,  clerk  or  parson 
of  Hopton,  Suffolk,  testified  that  on  the  same 
evening,  somewhat  earlier  it  would  appear 
than  the  incident  at  the  Bull,  he  had  met  in 
the  "Piattza,"  Covent  Garden,  a  man  former- 
ly known  to  him  as  a  footman  in  the  service 
of  the  regicide,  Sir  Michael  Livesey.  This 
man,  Allen  by  name,  appeared  much  dis- 
turbed, and  after  some  conversation  in  which 
he  hinted  at  "great  designs"  on  foot, 
called   away  by  a   page,   who   told   him   the 


1 8  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

horses  were  ready.  The  principal  piece  of 
evidence,  however,  was  a  sword,  belt  and 
pistol,  marked  "T.  H."  found  at  the  scene 
of  the  struggle  and  identified  as  the  property 
of  one  Hunt,  who  had  been  arrested  in  the 
preceding  August  under  suspicion  of  high- 
way robbery,  but  released  for  lack  of  evidence 
against  him.  Three  horses  were  also  found, 
one  of  which  corresponded  to  the  description 
of  the  animal  ridden  by  the  leader  of  the  five 
men  at  the  Bull.  In  addition  to  this  there 
was  the  usual  mass  of  more  or  less  irrelevant 
informations,  rumours,  arrests,  witnesses  and 
worthless  testimony  which  such  a  case  always 
produces.  After  much  deliberation  the  com- 
mittee finally  drew  up  a  bill  against  three  men, 
Thomas  Hunt,  Richard  Halliwell,  and  one 
Thomas  Allen,  also  called  Allett,  Aleck  and 
AylofTe.  These  were  summoned  to  render 
themselves  "by  a  short  day"  or  stand  con- 
victed of  the  assault.  The  bill  was  duly  passed 
by  both  houses  and  fully  vindicated  the  dig- 
nity of  the  Lords.  But  it  had  no  further  re- 
sult. The  men  did  not  render  themselves  by 
any  day,  short  or  long,  the  government  agents 
failed  to  find  them  and  there  the  matter  rested. 
The  result  and  indeed  the  whole  procedure 
was  thoroughly  unsatisfactory  to  many  in  au- 
thority.    At  the  outset  of  the  investigation 


CRO  WN  ■  STEA  LER  1 9 

Justice  Morton  of  London,  the  far-famed 
terror  of  highwaymen,  was  asked  by  Ormond 
to  look  into  the  matter  and  was  furnished  with 
the  names  of  certain  suspects.  He  reported 
on  Hunt  and  his  career,  and  went  on  to  say 
that  Moore  and  Blood,  concerning  whom  his 
Grace  had  enquired,  were  in  or  about  London. 
A  month  later,  Lord  Arlington,  the  Secretary 
of  State,  who  had  charge  of  the  secret  service, 
reported  to  the  Lords'  committee  that  of  the 
men  suspected,  "Jones,  who  wrote  Mene 
Tekel,1  Blood,  called  Allen,  Allec,  etc.,  young 
Blood,  his  son,  called  Hunt,  under  which  name 
he  was  indicted  last  year,  Halliwell,  Moore  and 
Simons,  were  desperate  characters  sheltering 
themselves  under  the  name  of  Fifth  Monarchy 
men."  "Would  not  this  exposing  of  their  names 
by  act  of  Parliament,"  he  asked,  "make  them 
hide  themselves  in  the  country,  whereas  the 
Nonconformists  with  whom  they  met,  and 
who  abhorred  their  crime  would  otherwise  be 
glad  to  bring  them  to  justice?"  Apparently 
not,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Lords,  and  the  result 
was  what  we  have  seen.  Neither  Arlington's 
advice  nor  the  men  were  taken.  And  though 
in  the  minds  of  Ormond,  Morton  and  Arling- 
ton, apparently  little  doubt  existed  as  to  the 


lA  famous  fanatic  pamphlet  against  the  government. 


20  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

authors  of  the  outrage,  no  way  was  found  to 
put  their  opinions  into  effect.  It  needed 
another  and  even  more  daring  exploit  to 
demonstrate  the  truth  of  their  conjecture  and 
bring  the  criminal  into  custody.  And  it  was 
not  long  until  just  such  a  circumstance  con- 
firmed their  surmise  that  the  man  guilty  of 
the  assault  was  the  most  famous  outlaw  of  his 
day,  long  known  and  much  wanted,  many 
times  proclaimed,  and  on  whose  head  a  price 
had  often  been  set  He  was,  in  short,  Thomas 
Blood,  courtesy-colonel  of  conspiracy,  plotter, 
desperado,  and  now,  at  last,  highwayman,  a 
man  not  much  known  to  the  world  at  large, 
but  a  source  of  long  standing  anxiety  to  the 
government. 

Who  was  he  and  what  was  the  motive  of 
this  apparently  foolhardy  and  purposeless 
piece  of  bravado?  The  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion lies  deep  in  the  history  of  the  time,  for 
Blood  was  no  common  rascal.  Unlike  the 
ordinary  criminal  he  was  not  merely  an  in- 
dividual lawbreaker.  He  was  at  once  a  leader 
and  a  type  of  an  element  in  the  state,  and  the 
part  that  he  and  his  fellows  played  in  affairs 
was  not  merely  important  in  itself  and  in  its 
generation,  but  even  at  this  distance  it  has  an 
interest  little  dimmed  by  two  centuries  of 
neglect.     The  story  of  his  life,  in  so  far  as  it 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  2 1 

can  be  pieced  out  from  the  materials  at  our 
command,  is  as  follows: 

In  the  reign  of  James  I,  that  is  to  say,  in 
the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
there  lived  at  an  obscure  place  called  Sarney. 
County  Meath,  Ireland,  a  man  named  Blood. 
He  was  by  trade  a  blacksmith  and  ironworker 
and  seems  to  have  been  possessed  of  some 
little  property,  including  an  iron  works.  He 
was  not  a  native  Irishman  but  one  of  those 
north  English  or  Scotch  Presbyterians,  colon- 
ized in  that  unhappy  island  according  to  the 
policy  which  had  been  pursued  by  the  English 
government.  Of  him  we  know  little  more  save 
this.  About  1 618  there  was  born  to  him  a 
son,  christened  Thomas,  who  grew  to  young 
manhood  unmarked  by  any  noteworthy 
achievements  or  qualities  of  which  any  record 
remains.  But  if  the  circumstances  of  his  own 
life  were  of  no  great  importance,  the  times  in 
which  he  lived  were  stirring  enough,  and 
remote  as  he  was  from  the  center  of  English 
political  life,  he  could  hardly  have  failed  to 
know  something  of  the  great  issues  then  agi- 
tating  public  affairs,  and  be  moved  by  events 
far  outside  his  own  little  circle.  When  he  was 
ten  years  old,  the  long  Struggle  between  the 
English  king  and  Parliament  biased  up  in  the 
Petition   of  Right,  by  which  the  Commons 


J 

/ 


22  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

strove  to  check  the  power  of  the  Crown. 
Thereafter  for  eleven  years  no  Parliament  sat 
in  England.  There,  supported  by  royal 
prerogative,  the  Archbishop  Laud  sought  to 
force  conformity  to  the  Anglican  ritual  on 
multitudes  of  unwilling  men  and  women,  while 
the  Attorney-General,  Noy,  and  the  Treas- 
urer, Weston,  revived  long-lapsed  statutes  and 
privileges  and  stretched  the  technicalities  of 
the  law  to  extort  unparliamentary  revenue. 
Then  it  was  that  the  Great  Emigration  poured 
thousands  of  settlers  into  the  New  World  and 
established  finally  and  beyond  question  the 
success  of  the  struggling  Puritan  colonies 
oversea.  Such  matters  touched  the  boy  in 
the  Irish  village  little.  But  when  the  great- 
est of  the  Royalists,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl 
Strafford  to  be,  was  transferred  from  the 
presidency  of  the  English  Council  of  the 
North  to  rule  Ireland,  Blood,  like  all  others 
in  that  troubled  province,  was  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  issues  of  the  time.  He,  like 
others,  saw  in  that  administration  the  theory 
and  practice  of  the  enlightened  despotism 
which  English  Parliamentarians  said  it  was 
the  aim  of  this  man  and  his  master  to  force 
upon  England  when  English  liberties  should 
have  been  crushed  with  the  Irish  army  then 
forming. 


t* 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  23 

Whether  young  Blood  enlisted  in  that 
army  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is  not  improb- 
able. In  any  event,  when  the  Civil  War  finally 
broke  out,  the  Blood  family  seem  to  have 
been  in  the  thick  of  it.  Years  afterward 
Prince  Rupert  said  that  he  remembered  the 
young  man  as  a  bold  and  dashing  soldier  in 
his  command.  And,  later  still,  Blood  himself 
wrote  King  Charles  II,  in  behalf  of  his  uncle 
Neptune,  for  thirty  years  dean  of  Kilfernora, 
noting  among  his  virtues  that  he  had  been 
with  Charles  I  at  Oxford.  Thus  it  would 
appear  that  the  Bloods  first  sided  with  the 
royal  cause.  Beside  this  we  know  that,  in 
the  year  before  the  execution  of  the  King, 
Blood  married  a  Miss  Holcroft  of  Holcroft 
in  Lancashire.  And  we  know  further  that 
then  or  thereafter,  like  many  another  stout 
soldier,  like  the  stoutest  of  them  all,  General 
Monk1  himself,  the  young  Royalist  changed 
sides,  for  the  next  time  he  appears  in  history 
it  is  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  Crom- 
wellian  army. 

Before  that,   however,   many  great  events 


'This  spelling  of  the  General's  name  has  been  dis- 
puted of  late,  such  authorities  as  Professor  Firth  and 
Mr.  \\  ilKock  preferring  Monck.  But  the  form  hero 
used  seems  as  good,  it  has  much  tradition  and  authority 
mi  its  side,  and  the  point  is,  after  all,  of  no  special 
importance. 


24  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

had  taken  place,  in  war  and  politics.  The 
Royalist  resistance  in  England  had  been  beaten 
down,  and  the  king  was  dead,  the  title  and 
office  of  king  had  been  abolished,  the  House 
of  Lords  had  been  done  away  with,  and  Eng- 
land was  a  commonwealth  with  a  Hunting- 
donshire gentleman,  Oliver  Cromwell,  at  its 
head.  The  war  had  shifted  to  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land. Charles  II  had  been  proclaimed  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  Catholic  and  Royalist  had  risen 
in  Ireland.  Thither  Cromwell  had  hastened 
with  his  invincible  Ironsides,  to  crush  the 
Irish  before  they  could  gather  head  and,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Scotch,  overthrow  his  hard- 
won  power.  His  stroke  was  swift  and  merci- 
less. The  chief  strongholds  of  his  enemies, 
Drogheda  and  Wexford,  were  stormed  and 
their  inhabitants  put  to  the  sword  after  the 
manner  of  the  old  Testament.  The  Irish  army 
was  overpowered  and  Cromwell  hurried  back 
to  crush  the  Scots  at  Dunbar  and  Worcester, 
leaving  his  son-in-law,  the  lawyer-general 
Ireton,  to  stamp  out  the  embers  of  rebellion. 
Thereafter,  he  sent  the  ablest  of  his  sons, 
Henry,  to  hold  the  island  for  the  Common- 
wealth. 

With  him  Blood  came  into  touch  with  the 
house  of  Cromwell.  The  young  Irishman  had 
probably  been  among  the  troops  which  were 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  25 

brought  over  to  conquer  the  "rebels"  serving 
under  the  Lord  General  and  Ireton  after  him 
For  when  the  new  government,  following  the 
example  of  its  predecessors,  confiscated  the 
land  of  its  enemies  and  the  fair  domains  of 
Royalist  and  Catholic  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  hard-hitting  and  loud-praying  colonels 
and  captains  and  even  common  soldiers  of 
the  Commonwealth,  Blood  not  only  acquired 
estates,  but  was  further  distinguished  by  being 
made  Justice  of  the  Peace  under  Henry  Crom- 
well. Thus  with  his  fellows,  and  in  greater 
proportion  than  most  of  them,  he  prospered 
and  after  an  adventurous  career  seemed  about 
to  achieve  the  ambition  of  most  Englishmen 
then  and  since,  and  become  a  real  count ry 
gentleman.  For  a  space  of  seven  years,  under 
Commonwealth  and  Protectorate,  he  lived, 
like  many  others  of  his  kind,  satisfied  and 
secure  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  his 
share  in  saving  England  from  the  tyrant,  little 
moved  by  the  great  events  oversea.  And, 
had  it  not  been  for  circumstances  as  far  out- 
side his  little  sphere  as  those  which  had  raised 
1 11 111  to  this  position,  he  might  well  have 
finished  an  obscure  and  peaceful  existence, 
with  little  further  interest  for  the  historian  or 
moralist.  But  at  the  end  of  those  seven  fat 
years  Fate,  who  had  been  so  kind  to  Blood 


26  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

and  his  fellows,  changed  sides,  and  he,  like 
many  others,  missing  the  signs  of  the  times,  or 
moved  by  conviction,  could  not,  or  would 
not,  at  all  events  did  not  change  with  her. 
On  September  3,  1658,  Oliver  Cromwell 
died  and  the  fabric  of  government  which  for 
some  years  had  rested  on  little  more  than  his 
will  and  his  sword,  began  at  once  to  crumble. 
For  a  few  months  his  son  Richard  endured 
the  empty  honour  of  the  Protector's  title. 
Then  he  resigned  and  the  administration  was 
left  in  a  weltering  chaos  of  Rump  Parliament 
politicians  and  Cromwellian  army  generals. 
To  end  this  anarchy  came  the  governor  of 
Scotland,  General  Monk,  with  his  army,  to 
London  in  the  first  months  of  1660.  Under 
his  shrewd,  stern  management  the  old  Parlia- 
ment was  forced  to  dissolve  itself  and  a  new 
House  of  Commons  was  chosen.  The  first 
act  of  this  so-called  Convention  was  to  recall 
the  House  of  Stuart  to  the  throne,  and  on 
May  29,  1660,  Charles  II  rode  into  London 
and  his  inheritance,  welcomed  by  the  same 
shouting  thousands  who  had  so  recently  as- 
sembled to  pay  the  last  honours  to  the  Pro- 
tectorate. As  rapidly  as  might  be  thereafter 
the  new  regime  was  established.  The  old 
officers  and  officials  were  replaced  by  Royal- 
ists, the  forces  by  land  and  sea  were  disbanded, 


CROWN -STEALER  27 

save  for  five  thousand  trusty  troops  to  guard 
the  new  monarchy,  the  leaders  of  the  fallen 
party  were  arrested  and  executed,  or  driven 
into  exile,  or  put  under  security.  Some,  like 
Monk  and  Montague  and  Browne,  were  now 
the  strongest  pillars  in  the  new  political  edi- 
fice. Many,  like  Harrison  and  his  fellow-regi- 
cides, were  marked  for  speedy  execution,  while 
others,  like  Vane,  were  kept  for  future  sacri- 
fice. Many  more,  like  Marten  and  Waller  and 
Cobbet,  dragged  out  a  wretched  existence  as 
political  prisoners,  exchanging  one  prison 
for  another  till  death  released  them.  Some, 
like  Hutchinson,  were  put  under  bonds  and 
granted  a  half  liberty  that  in  too  many  cases 
led  only  to  later  imprisonment.  Only  a  few, 
like  Lambert,  lived  long  in  the  more  pleasant 
confinement  of  the  Channel  Islands  and  the 
Scillies.  Yet  many  escaped.  Ludlow  and 
Lisle  and  their. companions  found  protection 
if  not  safety  in  Switzerland.  Many  more 
sought  refuge  in  Holland.  Some  like  Alger- 
non Sidney  flitted  over  Europe  like  uneasy 
spirits.  No  small  number  joined  the  Emperor 
to  fight  the  Turk,  or  took  service  in  Holland 
or  Sweden  or  the  petty  states  of  Germany. 
And  still  others,  like  Goffe  and  Whalley  and 
Dixwell,  sought  and  found  security  in  the 
New  World.     The  leaders  of  the  fallen  party 


28  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

out  of  the  way,  for  the  ensuing  six  years  the 
government  left  no  stone  unturned  to  undo 
the  work  of  revolution  and  to  restore  in  so 
far  as  possible  the  old  order. 

It  was  no  easy  task.  For  twenty  years 
England  had  been  engaged  in  a  civil  strife 
where  political  animosities  were  embittered 
by  religious  dissensions,  emphasized  by  lines 
of  social  cleavage.  Not  merely  had  the  ancient 
fabric  of  church  and  state  been  shattered,  but 
society  itself  had  been  convulsed  by  the  in- 
trusion of  ideas  and  classes  hitherto  little  re- 
garded as  vital  elements  of  public  affairs.  One 
by  one  institutions  long  held  sacred  fell  be- 
fore these  new  vandals  who  seemed  about  to 
set  up  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  King, 
Lords,  Church,  local  government,  finally  the 
House  of  Commons  itself  disappeared.  An 
open  way  for  the  talents  was  created.  A  carter 
became  a  colonel  and  member  of  Parliament, 
a  butcher  became  a  major-general.  The  son 
of  a  country  merchant  developed  into  the 
greatest  English  naval  commander  of  his 
time.  Meeting  house  and  conventicle  took 
their  place  beside  parish  church  and  cathedral. 
Bishops,  vestments,  liturgy,  at  last  the  whole 
Establishment  disappeared,  and  there  came  to 
be  thousands  of  men  who,  like  Pepys,  saw  a 
church  service  with  its  "singing  men"  for  the 


CROWN -STEALER  29 

first  time  after  the  Restoration.  One  section 
of  the  people  in  short  had  triumphed  over 
another.  Many  of  them,  like  Blood,  actually 
entered  into  their  enemies'  inheritance  and 
seemed  likely  to  found  a  new  dominant  caste. 
Nor  was  the  effect  confined  to  England.  That 
land  where  Puritanism  had  taken  refuge 
across  the  sea,  New  England,  felt  the  im- 
pulse no  less  strongly.  The  current  of 
emigration  which  some  years  before  had 
flowed  so  strongly  toward  the  new  world  was 
checked  and  even  turned  back.  With  the 
clash  of  arms  not  a  few  New  World  Puritans 
hastened  to  the  mother  country  to  strike  a 
blow  for  their  cause.  Thus  the  young  George 
Downing,  but  just  graduated  from  Harvard, 
entered  the  Parliamentary  army  as  chaplain, 
turning  thence  to  diplomacy,  and  with  the 
overthrow  of  the  Puritans,  to  Royalism.  But 
many  were  more  scrupulous  or  less  fortunate 
than  he.  When  1660  came  and  this  was  all 
reversed,  when  the  old  party  was  in  the 
ascendant,  the  king  on  the  throne,  what  would 
become  of  them?  They  had  been  free  to  wor- 
ship in  their  own  way  and  had  been  largely 
exempt  even  from  many  forms  of  taxation. 
But  all  this  was  now  suddenly  reversed.  The 
Royalists  were  again  in  the  ascendant,  the 
king  was  on  his  throne,   Puritanism  was  dis- 


30  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

credited,  its  leaders  gone,  its  organization 
destroyed.  What  were  men  like  Blood  to  do? 
Matters  moved  rapidly  in  those  early  months 
of  1660  as  they  had  need  to  do  if  the  restora- 
tion of  the  old  order  was  to  be  accomplished 
without  bloodshed.  From  the  first  of  January 
when  Monk  with  his  Scotch  army  entered 
England  on  its  way  to  London  to  the  end  of 
May  when  Charles  II  rode  into  Whitehall  and 
his  inheritance,  great  events  pressed  close  on 
each  other's  heels.  The  old  Long  Parliament 
was  restored  to  decree  its  own  dissolution  and 
the  summoning  of  its  successor.  A  general 
election  when  Royalism  was  stimulated  by  the 
Declaration  from  Breda  promising  amnesty 
and  toleration  produced  the  Convention  Par- 
liament which  under  stress  of  Royal  promise 
and  fear  of  the  sectaries  recalled  the  King.  A 
Royal  Council  was  hurriedly  brought  together, 
the  House  of  Lords  filled  up,  the  Common- 
wealth officials  and  officers  replaced  as  rapidly 
as  might  be  by  Royalists  and  before  the  end  of 
June  administration  had  been  secured  for  the 
new  monarchy.  Thus  under  the  protection  of 
Monk  and  his  trusty  regiments,  King,  Lords, 
Commons  resumed  their  ancient  place,  admin- 
istration came  into  new  hands,  the  bishops 
were  taking  their  place  in  the  Lords,  the 
clergy  in  their  parishes  as  they  could  and  all 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  31 

England  seemed  well  on  the  way  to  accept  a 
settlement.    Yet  great  issues  remained. 

For  the  moment  the  restoration  had  affected 
only  the  leaders  of  the  fallen  party  and  the 
army.  The  divisions  in  society  and  politics 
remained,  and  the  three  classes  which  had 
fought  the  civil  war  persisted.  But  their 
positions  were  greatly  changed.  The  Angli- 
cans were  in  power.  The  Presbyterians  for 
the  time  shared  that  power  with  their  rivals, 
and  it  was  only  by  their  aid  the  king  had  been 
recalled.  But  the  Third  Party,  or  sectaries — 
Independents,  Baptists,  Unitarians,  Quakers, 
and  the  rest,  were  now  hopelessly  at  sea. 
Cromwell,  under  whom  they  had  risen  to 
numbers  and  influence,  was  dead,  their  army 
was  being  disbanded,  they  had  little  voice  in 
Parliament,  and  the  shadow  of  persecution  was 
already  upon  them.  Yet  though  cast  down 
they  were  not  destroyed.  They  had  not  time 
to  fully  establish  themselves  as  a  factor  in 
religion  and  politics.  Their  development  was 
checked  half  way  and  they  had  been  given  no 
opportunity  to  work  out  their  salvation  un- 
hindered. But  they  were  there  and  they  were 
to  be  reckoned  with. 

For  several  months,  though  the  Anglicans 
strove  to  prevent  it,  the  Presbyterians  at  least, 
seemed  likely  to  receive  the  recognition  they 


32  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

had  earned  by  their  services  to  the  restora- 
tion. In  the  Parliament  they  were  the  most 
powerful  group.  In  the  new  Council  twelve 
men  of  the  thirty  had  borne  arms  against  the 
late  king.  Among  the  royal  chaplains  ten 
Presbyterian  divines  found  place.  And  beside 
issuing  the  Declaration  from  Breda  promising 
liberty  of  conscience,  the  king  presently  called 
a  conference  of  Anglicans  and  Presbyterians 
at  the  Savoy  palace  to  consider  some  plan  of 
toleration  or  comprehension.  So  far  all 
promised  well  for  an  amicable  adjustment  of 
relations  between  the  two  great  parties  in 
church  and  state.  But  their  very  agreement 
boded  ill  for  the  third  party.  In  the  days  of 
their  prosperity  they  had  suppressed  Anglican 
and  Presbyterian  alike.  Now  that  these  had 
joined  hands  the  sectaries  had  little  to  hope. 
They  had  early  stirred  to  meet  the  danger. 
While  the  Convention  debated  the  terms  on 
which  the  king  should  return,  their  delibera- 
tions were  cut  short  not  less  by  the  declara- 
tion of  the  king,  than  by  the  fear  of  a  rising 
of  the  republicans  and  sects.  But,  as  the 
event  proved,  it  was  not  in  the  alliance  of  the 
two  greater  parties  their  danger  lay,  for  that 
alliance  was  of  a  few  days  and  full  of  trouble. 
The  Convention  was  dissolved  without  the 
embodiment  into  legislation  of  those  guaran- 


CRO  fVAT  -  STEALER  33 

tees  which  might  have  made  the  Presbyterians 
secure.  And  before  the  new  House  was 
chosen,  or  the  Savoy  Conference  held,  their 
cause  was  hopelessly  compromised  by  the 
third  party  with  whom,  against  their  will,  the 
Anglicans  successfully  endeavored  to  identify 
them.  For  in  January,  1661,  fanaticism  broke 
out  in  London.  A  cooper  named  Venner,  a 
soldier  of  the  old  army,  sometime  conspirator 
against  Cromwell,  sometime  resident  of  Salem, 
in  New  England,  with  some  three  score 
followers,  all  of  that  peculiar  millenial  sect 
known  as  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  rose  against 
the  government,  and  for  three  days  kept  the 
city,  the  court  and  the  administration  in  a 
state  of  feverish  alarm.  But  the  odds  against 
them  were  too  great.  They  found  neither 
aid  nor  comfort  from  outside,  and  the  children 
of  this  world  triumphed  over  those  who  would 
have  restored  the  rule  of  the  saints  under 
King  Jesus. 

That  rising  helped  destroy  whatever  chance 
the  Presbyterians  had  of  holding  their  strength 
in  the  new  Parliament,  and  the  House  of 
Commons  showed  a  clear  majority  of  Royalist 
Anglicans.  Hardly  had  this  body  begun  its 
deliberations  when  the  Savoy  Conference  met, 
and,  after  some  wrangling,  dissolved  without 
reaching  any  agreement.     Thence  ensued  a 


34  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

period  of  reaction  whose  results  are  writ 
large  in  religious  history  to  this  day,  for  this 
was  the  time  when  established  church  and 
denominations  definitely  parted  company. 
The  dominant  party  lost  no  time  in  destroying 
the  strength  of  their  rivals.  The  Corporation 
Act  drove  the  dissenters  from  those  bodies 
which  governed  the  cities  and  towns  and 
chose  a  majority  of  the  Commons.  The  Act 
of  Uniformity  excluded  all  dissenting  ministers 
from  the  Church  of  England.  And  the  restor- 
ation of  the  bishops  to  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  of  its  confiscated  property  to  the  Church 
completed  the  discomfiture  of  the  Presbyter- 
ians. These,  indeed,  suffered  most  for  they 
had  most  to  lose,  but  the  new  policy  bore  no 
less  hardly  on  the  sectaries.  And  these,  joined 
by  the  more  extreme  Presbyterians,  were  less 
inclined  to  submit  to  the  revived  authority  in 
church  and  state.  Many  moderate  men,  in- 
deed, found  it  in  their  consciences  to  conform 
enough  to  evade  the  law.  But  many  more 
were  not  able  nor  inclined  to  take  this  course. 
Deprived  of  their  army,  of  their  political  posi- 
tion, of  their  religious  liberty,  even  at, length 
of  their  right  to  petition,  in  many  cases  of 
what  they  considered  their  rightful  property, 
with  no  outlet  for  their  opinions  in  Parlia- 
ment, the  case  seemed  hopeless  enough.  Some 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  35 

recanted,  the  most  began  a  long  and  honor- 
able course  of  silent  endurance  of  their  perse- 
cution. And  some,  of  bolder  spirit,  turned  to 
darker  ways. 

These  events  in  England  had  their  counter- 
part in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  the  former 
a  Royalist  Parliament,  intoxicated  with  power, 
a  source,  however,  from  which  its  name  of  the 
Drunken  Parliament  was  not  derived,  re- 
pealed at  one  stroke  all  the  acts  of  the  pre- 
ceding twenty-eight  years,  and  abolished  that 
document  so  dear  to  Presbyterian  hearts,  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  In  the  latter 
a  Court  of  Claims  was  established  to  unravel 
the  intricacies  of  the  interminable  land  ques- 
tion and  restore  the  estates,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  their  former  owners.  In  all  three  kingdoms 
the  dispossessed  party  was  thrown  into  a  fer- 
ment of  discontent  over  this  sudden  reversal  of 
their  fortunes.  The  soldiers  of  the  old  army 
were  especially  enraged.  They  felt  that  they 
had  lost  by  political  trickery  what  had  been 
won  in  fair  fight.  By  a  sudden  turn  of  fortune's 
wheel,  a  bit  of  legal  chicanery,  their  old 
enemy,  the  Parliament,  had  caught  them  off 
their  guard  and  overthrown  them.  Their  place 
had  been  taken  by  the  ungodly,  the  Arminian 
and  the  idol-worshipper.  And  these  brethren 
of  the  Covenant  and  the  sword  were  not  men 


y 


36  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

to  rest  quietly  under  such  wrongs.  Many,  in- 
deed, turned  aside  from  politics  and  war,  tak- 
ing no  further  part  in  public  affairs.  But  not  a 
few  declared  they  would  not  be  led  into  an 
Egyptian  bondage  under  a  new  Pharaoh. 
They  would  not  be  turned  adrift  by  the  empty 
vote  of  a  packed  Parliament,  whence  they  had 
been  excluded.  Those  whom  they  had  fairly 
fought  and  fairly  conquered,  those  who  had 
followed  Mammon,  and  bowed  the  knee  to 
Baal,  the  worshippers  of  Rimmon,  the  doers  of 
abominations,  the  servants  of  the  Scarlet 
Woman  who  sits  on  the  Seven  Hills,  were 
these  to  enter  upon  that  fair  inheritance,  so 
lately  in  the  hands  of  the  Saints,  without  a 
blow?  Surely  the  Lord  was  on  the  side  of  His 
servants,  as  he  had  shown  them  by  so  many 
signal  instances  of  His  favour,  at  Naseby,  at 
Marston  Moor,  at  Dunbar  and  Worcester,  and 
a  hundred  fights  beside,  in  the  great  days  gone 
by.  Was  He  to  look  on  unmoved?  Had  He 
abandoned  them  to  their  enemies?  Was  this 
not  rather  a  device  of  His  to  try  their  con- 
stancy and  courage?  Was  it  not  their  part  as 
brave  and  righteous  men  to  strike  another 
blow  for  the  faith  that  was  in  them  and  the 
heritage  He  had  put  in  their  hands?  A  bold 
stroke  had  once  prevailed  against  their  oppres- 
sors.   Might  not  another  restore  the  Covenant 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  37 

and  give  back  to  the  afflicted  saints  their 
inheritance  and  the  spoil  of  the  Philistines?  A 
new  king  was  on  the  throne  who  knew  not 
Joseph.  But  his  rule  was  recent,  his  hold  pre- 
carious. His  father  had  been  overthrown 
though  all  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  mighty 
had  been  on  his  side.  Now  the  land  was  honey- 
combed with  sedition,  there  were  thousands  of 
bold  spirits  accustomed  to  discipline  and  the 
use  of  arms,  and  thousands  more  of  the  faith- 
ful with  money  and  sympathy  to  aid  in  the 
great  work  of  destroying  the  rule  of  grasping 
bishops  and  a  Catholic  king. 

Thus  while  the  regicides  fled  from  the  wrath 
of  the  new  government,  or  suffered  the  penalty 
of  their  deeds  in  London,  while  Parliament 
was  driving  Nonconformity  from  church  and 
state  and  the  greater  part  of  the  dispossessed 
party  girded  itself  to  endure  the  impending 
persecution,  while  new-fledged  royalty  flaunt- 
ed its  licentiousness  in  Whitehall,  earnest  and 
vindictive  men  plotted  against  the  new  order 
in  England,  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  and 
Wales,  in  London  itself.  Emissaries  made 
thetr  way  by  night  along  unfrequented  roads, 
or  stole  from  village  to  village  in  tiny  fishing 
boats,  or  crept  through  narrow  lanes  of  the  old 
City  and  its  environs,  to  cheer  the  secret  and 
unlawful  conventicles  of  Baptist  and  Quaker, 


38  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

Presbyterian  and  Congregationalist,  Unitarian 
and  Fifth  Monarchist,  with  hopes  and  plans  for 
the  resurrection  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Right- 
eous. The  old  Republicans  were  approached, 
the  holders  of  land  taken  in  the  recent 
troubles,  the  members  of  the  old  Rump  Parlia- 
ment, the  exiles  abroad,  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  old  army  at  home.  Proclama- 
tions were  printed  promising  all  things  to 
all  men,  but  chiefly  toleration  and  lighter 
taxes.  Tracts  were  smuggled  from  London 
or  Holland  full  of  the  language  of  prophecy. 
The  new  monarchy  had  been  measured  and 
found  wanting,  the  old  Covenant  was  about  to 
rise,  Phoenix-like,  from  its  ashes,  the  heavens 
were  full  of  signs  and  portents,  and  prodigies 
everywhere  indicated  the  fall  of  king  and 
bishop.  A  new  Armageddon  was  at  hand,  the 
rule  of  King  Jesus  was  to  be  restored,  "even 
by  Blood."  Everywhere  arms  were  gathered 
and  men  enlisted  against  that  great  day.  A 
council  of  conspirators  directed  the  activities 
of  its  agents  from  London  and  communicated 
with  other  groups  throughout  the  three  king- 
doms and  with  the  refugees  on  the  Continent. 
In  such  wise  were  woven  the  threads  of  con- 
spiracy against  restored  royalty  and  the  pride 
of  the  Anglicans,  widely  but  loosely. 

And  everywhere,   meanwhile,   the   govern- 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  39 

ment  followed  close  on  the  trail  of  the  con- 
spirators and  kept  in  close  touch  with  the 
elements  of  discontent.  Everywhere  spies  and 
informers  were  enlisted,  even  from  the  ranks  of 
conspiracy  itself,  to  discover  and  also,  it  was 
whispered,  to  foment  conspiracy  where  none 
existed,  that  dangerous  men  might  be  drawn 
in  and  seized.  From  every  county  justices 
and  deputy  lieutenants  poured  a  steady  stream 
of  prisoners  and  information  into  the  hands 
of  the  administration.  Under  the  careful 
direction  of  the  Lord  General  the  militia  was 
reorganized,  former  strongholds  weakened  or 
destroyed,  troops  moved  here  and  there,  sus- 
picious persons  seized  and  incipient  disturb- 
ance vigorously  repressed.  So  for  three  years 
this  underground  warfare  went  on.  Late  in 
1661  the  government  found  or  professed  to 
find,  a  clue  to  conspiracy  and  exploited  its 
discovery  in  Parliament  to  secure  the  act 
against  corporations.  Again  in  1662  another, 
and  perhaps  more  real  clanger  was  brought 
to  light,  and  again  this  was  used  to  pass  the 
Act  of  Uniformity,  a  measure  against  dissent- 
ing ministers  which  drove  some  eighteen 
hundred  from  the  Church  and  rendered  com- 
prehension finally  impossible.  Some  of  the 
alleged  conspirators  were  hanged,  some  were 
used   to   get   more  information,   but   for   the 


40  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

most  part  the  leaders  remained  unknown,  or 
escaped.  Thus  far  the  disaffected  had  played 
into  the  hands  of  their  bitterest  enemies,  and 
had  accomplished  little  more  than  furnish  a 
much  desired  excuse  for  legislation  to  destroy 
Nonconformity  root  and  branch.  If  insurrec- 
tion had  been  planned  at  all  it  had  been 
thwarted,  and  turned  against  its  authors  and 
their  party.  So  useful  had  it  been  to  the 
Anglicans,  indeed,  that  it  was  more  than 
hinted  that  the  so-called  conspiracies  were  in 
fact  engineered  by  them  for  use  in  Parliament. 
This  was  not  quite  true.  Conspiracy  there 
had  been,  and  was,  as  events  were  to  prove. 
The  increasing  persecution  of  Dissent,  the  in- 
creasing weight  of  taxation,  the  increasing 
luxury  of  the  court  and  the  exactions  of  the 
church,  provided  an  increasing  basis  of  dis- 
content, deep  and  far-reaching.  And  the 
administration  learned  presently  that  the  plot 
they  had  so  diligently  pursued  and  exploited 
had  a  very  real  existence.  By  1663  it  was  a 
wide  spread  and  apparently  well-organized 
conspiracy.  It  included  the  discontented  Non- 
conformists of  the  west  and  north  of  England, 
the  Scotch  Covenanters,  the  dispossessed 
Cromwellians  in  Ireland,  the  London  con- 
venticlers  and  the  Continental  refugees.  A 
central   Committee  of  Six,   chiefly  old  army 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  4 1 

officers,  sat  in  London,  whence  they  directed 
the  movement  from  their  hiding  places  in 
those  little  known  regions  of  the  metropolis 
where  even  the  King's  writ  ran  with  difficulty 
or  not  at  all.  The  scheme  contemplated  the 
surprise  and  seizure  of  Whitehall  and  the 
Tower,  the  capture  of  the  King  and  his  brother, 
of  the  Chancellor,  and  the  Lord  General. 
Simultaneous  risings  were  to  take  place 
throughout  the  country  whereby  the  local 
authorities  were  to  be  overpowered,  the 
Guards,  if  possible,  decoyed  away  from  the 
capital,  and  the  central  administration  par- 
alyzed and  destroyed.  The  forces  of  the 
conspirators,  under  their  former  leaders, 
especially  General  Ludlow,  were  to  unite, 
march  on  London,  and  there  either  exact 
terms  from  the  captive  King  or  set  up  another 
Republic,  but  in  any  event  relieve  the  people 
from  the  burdens  of  religious  and  financial 
oppression.  Such  was  the  dream  of  the  dis- 
contented, which,  transformed  into  action 
might  well  have  plunged  England  again  into 
the  throes  of  civil  war. 

Meanwhile  what  of  our  friend  Blood  amid 
all  these  great  affairs?  Had  he,  like  many 
others,  preferred  the  safer  course,  withdrawn 
into  private  life  and  abandoned  his  property 
and  ambitions  together?  That,  indeed,  seems 


42  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

to  have  been  his  first  course.  The  Court  of 
Claims  apparently  deprived  him,  among  many 
others,  of  part  or  all  of  his  new-found  fortune 
in  land,  and  he  seems  to  have  taken  up  his 
residence  in  Dublin,  with  or  near  his  brother- 
in-law,  Lackie,  or  Lecky,  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  and,  like  his  modern  namesake, 
the  historian,  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College. 
Even  so  he  maintained  his  reputation  as  an 
active  man,  for  on  June  30,  1663,  a  Dublin 
butcher,  Dolman  by  name,  is  found  petitioning 
the  Duke  of  Ormond  for  the  return  of  an 
"outlandish  bull  and  cow"  of  which  he  had 
been  unlawfully  deprived  by  Thomas  Blood, 
lieutenant  in  the  late  army.  The  petition  was 
duly  granted  and  the  animals  doubtless  duly 
recovered.  But  before  that  the  gallant  lieu- 
tenant was  in  far  deeper  designs  than  the 
benevolent  assimilation  of  other  people's  out- 
landish bulls,  and  before  the  worthy  butcher 
petitioned  against  him  he  had  come  under  the 
direct  attention  of  the  Lord-lieutenant  in  a 
much  more  serious  connection. 

It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  such  a  man 
was  overlooked  in  the  assignment  of  parts  for 
the  great  conspiracy.  A  committee  had  been 
formed  in  Dublin  to  organize  and  enlist  the 
old  Cromwellians  in  the  design  and  of  this 
committee  Blood  and  his  brother-in-law  were 


CRO  WN  -  S TEA L ER  43 

prominent  members.  They  were,  in  fact,  the 
chief  means  by  which  correspondence  was 
maintained  with  the  north  Irish  Presbyterians 
in  Ulster,  and  the  so-called  Cameronians  in 
Scotland,  as  well  as  the  Nonconformist  group 
in  Lancashire  and  north  England,  with  whom 
Blood's  marriage  had  given  him  some  con- 
nection. The  local  design,  as  evolved  by  this 
committee,  was  most  ingenious.  A  day,  the 
9th  or  10th  of  May,  was  set  for  its  execution, 
men  and  arms  were  collected,  and  the  details 
carefully  arranged  for  the  seizure  of  Dublin 
Castle  and  the  person  of  Ormond.  According 
to  an  old  usage  the  Lord-lieutenant  was  accus- 
tomed from  day  to  day  to  receive  petitions 
in  person  from  all  who  cared  to  carry  their 
troubles  to  him  in  this  way.  Taking  advantage 
of  this  custom,  it  was  proposed  by  the  con- 
spirators to  send  certain  men  enlisted  in  the 
enterprise  into  the  Castle  in  the  guise  of 
petitioners.  Some  eighty  others,  meanwhile, 
disguised  as  workingmen  and  loiterers,  were 
to  hang  about  the  great  gate  of  the  Castle. 
Another,  disguised  as  a  baker,  and  carrying  a 
basket  of  bread  on  his  head,  was  to  enter  the 
gate,  as  if  on  his  way  to  the  kitchen.  As  he 
went  in  he  was  to  stumble  and  let  fall  his  pile 
of  loaves.  It  was  calculated  that  the  care- 
less guard  would  probably  rush  out  to  snatch 


44  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

the  bread  thus  scattered.  The  baker  would 
resist,  the  pretended  workmen  and  loiterers 
would  gather  to  see  the  fun,  and,  under  cover 
of  the  disturbance,  rush  the  gate,  seize  the 
guard-house  and  its  arms,  overpower  the 
guard,  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  petitioners 
within,  occupy  the  Castle.  Upon  the  news  of 
this,  risings  were  to  take  place  throughout  the 
country,  and  the  English  troops  and  officials 
overpowered  and  brought  over  or  killed. 

It  was  an  admirable  plan.  The  volunteers 
were  chosen,  the  disguises  prepared,  a  proc- 
lamation to  the  people  was  printed,  and  the 
whole  matter  laid  in  train.  The  plot,  in  fact, 
wanted  but  one  thing  to  succeed — secrecy. 
This  it  was  not  destined  to  have.  At  the 
proper  time  the  inevitable  informer  appeared 
in  the  person  of  Mr.  Philip  Alden  or  Arden, 
a  member  of  the  committee.  By  him  and  by  a 
certain  Sir  Theophilus  Jones,  to  whom  some 
knowledge  of  the  plot  had  come,  Ormond  was 
warned  of  his  danger.  He  took  immediate 
steps  to  secure  himself  and  arrest  the  con- 
spirators. But  they  were  warned  of  their 
danger  in  time  to  escape,  and  under  the  rules 
of  the  game  they  should  have  made  off  at 
once.  Instead  they  boldly  went  on  with  their 
plans,  but  set  the  time  four  days  ahead,  for 
May  5th.    Even  this  daring  step  failed  to  save 


CROWN   STEALER  45 

them.  The  Castle  guard  was  increased,  troops 
and  militia  called  out,  the  other  districts 
warned,  and  the  conspirators  sought  out  and 
arrested.  Among  the  first  victims  was  Blood's 
brother-in-law,  Lackie.  He  was  thrown  into 
prison,  where  the  severity  of  his  treatment  is 
said  to  have  driven  him  insane.  His  wife 
petitioned  for  his  release,  and  there  is  a  story 
that  his  colleagues,  the  fellows  of  Trinity 
College,  joined  her  in  begging  that  his  life  be 
spared.  They  were  told  that  he  might  have 
his  liberty  if  he  would  conform,  which,  how- 
ever, even  at  that  price,  he  refused  to  do.  This 
much  is  quite  certain,  his  wife  was  promised, 
not  her  husband's  liberty  but  his  body.  And 
this,  after  his  execution  in  December,  was 
accordingly  handed  over  to  her.  The  other 
conspirators  suffered  likewise  in  life,  or  liberty, 
or  property,  and  every  effort  was  made  to 
include  Blood  in  the  list  of  victims.  A 
proclamation  he  had  issued  was  burned  by  the 
hangman.  He  was  declared  an  outlaw,  his 
remaining  estates  were  confiscated,  and  a  price 
was  set  on  his  head.  But  the  government  was 
compelled  to  satisfy  itself  with  this,  the  man 
himself  disappeared.  Among  the  brethren  of 
his  faith  he  was  able  to  find  plenty  of  hiding 
places.  But,  according  to  his  own  story,  told 
many   years   later,    he   scorned    to    skulk    in 


46  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

corners.  Disguised  as  a  Quaker,  as  a  Dissent- 
ing minister,  even  as  a  Catholic  priest,  he  made 
his  way  from  place  to  place,  living  and  preach- 
ing openly,  and  by  his  very  effrontery  keeping 
the  officers  off  his  scent  for  some  years.  And 
so  great,  it  is  said,  was  the  terror  of  his  name 
and  his  daring  that  a  plot  to  rescue  Lackie 
from  the  scaffold  not  only  frightened  away  the 
crowd  from  the  execution,  but  nearly  suc- 
ceeded in  its  object,  while  for  months  after- 
ward Ormond  was  hindered  from  venturing 
out  of  Dublin  by  the  fear  of  his  friends  that 
he  would  be  kidnapped  or  killed  by  Blood  and 
his  companions. 

Meanwhile  the  great  design  in  England, 
like  that  in  Ireland,  found  its  shipwreck  in 
treachery.  Two  of  the  men  entrusted  with 
the  secrets  of  the  design  revealed  it  to  the 
government.  One  of  the  leaders,  Paul 
Hobson,  was  early  seized,  and  his  correspond- 
ence intercepted.  The  first  leader  chosen 
went  mad,  and  the  miracles  which  were 
prophesied,  did  not  come  to  pass.  The  plans 
for  a  rising  in  Durham,  Westmoreland  and 
Lancashire  were  betrayed,  troops  and  militia 
were  hurried  to  the  points  of  danger,  and  the 
few  who  rose  in  arms  during  that  fatal  month 
of  October,  1663,  discouraged  by  the  fewness 
of  their  numbers  and  the  strength  brought 


CRO  WN  •  STEALER  47 

against  them,  dispersed  without  a  blow.  The 
rest  was  but  the  story  of  arrests,  examinations, 
trials,  and  executions.  More  than  a  score  of 
those  who  took  part  in  the  design  were 
executed,  more  than  a  hundred  punished  by 
fine  or  imprisonment  or  exile,  or  all  three. 
Hobson  was  kept  prisoner  in  the  Tower  for 
more  than  a  year.  His  health  failed,  and  in 
consideration  of  information  he  had  given,  he 
and  his  family  were  permitted  to  go  under 
heavy  bonds,  to  the  Carolinas,  where,  as  else- 
where in  the  colonies,  he  doubtless  found 
many  kindred  spirits.  By  the  middle  of  1664 
the  tale  of  victims  was  complete,  and  the  con- 
spiracy was  crushed.  The  alarm  again  re- 
acted on  Parliament,  and  a  bill  against  meet- 
ings of  Dissenters,  which  had  been  long 
pending,  was  passed  under  pressure  of  the  plot. 
By  its  provisions  it  became  unlawful  to  hold 
a  religious  meeting  of  more  than  five  persons 
beside  the  family  in  whose  house  the  worship- 
pers assembled  under  severe  and  cumulative 
penalties.    This  was  the  Conventicle  Act. 

Blood,  meanwhile,  like  several  of  his  co- 
conspirators, flitted  from  place  to  place,  in 
Ireland  and  England,  the  authorities  always  on 
his  trail.  Finally,  like  many  before  and  after 
him,  he  seems  to  have  found  refuge  In  the 
seventeenth    century    sanctuary    of    political 


48  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

refugees,  Holland.  There  no  small  number  of 
the  leaders  and  soldiers  of  the  old  army  had 
preceded  him,  and  many  had  taken  service  in 
the  Dutch  army  and  navy.  It  may  be  that 
he  had  some  thought  of  following  their  ex- 
ample, perhaps  his  designs  were  deeper  still. 
He  had  nothing  to  hope  from  England,  for 
his  confiscated  estates  had  been  leased  to  a 
certain  Captain  Toby  Barnes,  reserving  the 
rights  of  the  government,  based  on  his  for- 
feiture by  treason.  He  therefore  made  his 
way  and  extended  his  acquaintance  not  only 
among  the  English,  but  among  the  Dutch  as 
well,  and,  if  his  story  is  true,  was  introduced 
to  no  less  a  person  than  the  great  Dutch 
admiral,  De  Ruyter,  the  most  formidable  of  all 
England's  enemies.  And  this  was  of  much 
importance,  for  while  he  sojourned  abroad, 
England  and  Holland  had  drifted  into  war. 
From  February,  1665,  to  July,  1667,  the  two 
strongest  maritime  powers  strove  for  control 
of  the  sea.  In  the  summer  of  1665  the  English 
won  some  advantage  in  the  fierce  battle  of 
Lowestoft,  but  the  noise  of  rejoicing  was 
stilled  by  a  terrible  catastrophe.  In  that  same 
summer  the  Plague  fell  upon  London.  The 
death  list  in  the  city  alone  swelled  from  600 
in  April  to  20,000  in  August.  Business  was 
suspended,  the  court  and  most  of  the  adminis- 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  49 

tration  and  the  clergy  fled,  and  the  war 
languished.  A  few  brave  spirits  like  Sheldon, 
the  bishop  of  London,  a  certain  secretary  in 
the  Admiralty,  Samuel  Pepys,  of  much  fame 
thereafter,  and  the  old  Cromwellian  general, 
Monk,  now  Duke  of  Albemarle,  stuck  grimly 
to  their  posts.  But  they  and  their  fellows 
were  few  among  many.  Amid  the  terror  and 
confusion  the  Nonconformist  clergy  came  out 
of  their  hiding  places,  ascended  the  pulpits 
which  had  been  deserted  by  their  brethren  of 
the  Anglican  church,  few  of  whom  followed 
the  example  of  their  brave,  intolerant  old 
bishop,  and  ministered  to  the  spiritual  needs 
of  the  stricken  people.  Conventicles  sprung 
up  everywhere,  and  conspiracy  again  raised  its 
head.  This  time  new  plans  were  devised. 
Hundreds  of  old  soldiers  were  reported  com- 
ing to  London  and  taking  quarters  near  the 
Tower.  Arms  were  collected  and  a  plan 
formed  to  surprise  the  great  stronghold  by  an 
attack  from  the  water  side.  In  addition  there 
was  a  design  for  risings  elsewhere,  aided  by 
the  Dutch.  The  government  bestirred  itself 
under  the  direction  of  the  inevitable  Monk. 
The  London  conspirators  were  seized,  inform- 
ation was  sent  to  the  local  authorities,  who 
made  arrests  and  called  out  the  militia,  and 
the  danger  was  averted.     Parliament  met  at 


SO  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

Oxford  in  October  and,  as  a  sequel  to  the 
plot,  passed  the  most  ferocious  of  the  perse- 
cuting measures,  the  Five  Mile  Act,  by  which 
no  Nonconformist  preacher  or  teacher  was 
permitted  to  come  within  that  distance  of  a 
city  or  borough,  save  on  a  duly  certified 
journey. 

The  next  year  repeated  the  history  of  its 
predecessor.  The  English  fleet  under  the  only 
man  who  seemed  to  rise  to  emergencies  in  this 
dark  time,  Monk,  met  the  Dutch  off  the 
North  Foreland  and  fought  there  a  terrible 
battle  which  lasted  three  days,  and  was 
claimed  as  a  victory  by  both  sides.  Again  this 
was  followed  by  a  calamity.  In  September  a 
fire  broke  out  in  London  which  raged  almost 
unchecked  for  a  week,  and  laid  the  greater 
part  of  the  city  in  ashes.  France,  meanwhile> 
entered  the  war  on  the  side  of  Holland,  and 
the  English  government,  corrupt  and  ex- 
hausted, seemed  almost  ready  to  fall.  It  was 
little  wonder  that  the  sectaries,  though  their 
arms  had  been  lost  in  the  fire,  plucked  up 
courage  and  laid  more  plans.  Six  weeks  after 
the  fire  the  Covenanters  in  west  Scotland, 
maddened  by  persecution,  were  in  arms,  and 
maintained  themselves  for  some  weeks  against 
the  forces  sent  against  them.  During  the 
following  winter  the  English,  short  of  money, 


CRO  WN  -  S  TEALER  5 1 

and  negotiating  for  peace,  resolved  not  to  set 
out  a  fleet  in  the  spring.  In  June  the  Dutch, 
apprised  of  the  defenceless  condition  of  the 
English  coasts,  brought  together  a  fleet  under 
De  Ruyter,  sailed  up  the  Medway  and 
the  Thames,  took  Sheerness  and  Chatham, 
broke  through  the  defenses  there  and  cap- 
tured or  destroyed  the  English  ships  they 
found  at  anchor.  There  was  little  to  oppose 
them.  The  Guards  were  drawn  out,  the 
young  gentlemen  about  the  court  enlisted, 
the  militia  was  brought  together,  and  volun- 
teers collected.  Some  entrenchments  were 
dug,  and  guns  were  mounted  to  oppose  a 
landing.  And  the  Lord  General  Monk,  who 
had  done  all  that  was  done,  marched  up  and 
down  the  bank,  before  the  Dutch  ships  whose 
big  black  hulks  lay  well  within  the  sound  of 
his  voice,  chewing  tobacco,  swearing  like  a 
pirate,  shaking  his  heavy  cane  at  the  enemy, 
and  daring  them  to  land.  They  did  not  kill 
him  as  they  might  easily  have  done.  From 
their  ships  came  a  brisk  cannonade,  volleys 
of  jeers  and  profanity,  and  the  insulting  cries 
of  English  seamen  aboard,  deriding  their 
fellow-countrymen  ashore.  And  with  these 
insults  the  fleet  presently  weighed  anchor  and 
sailed  away  to  patrol  the  coasts,  interrupt 
commerce,  and  attack  other  ports.    In  parties- 


52  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

lar  an  attempt  was  made  on  Landguard  fort, 
covering  Harwich.  There  the  Dutch  fleet  was 
taken  into  the  harbour  by  English  pilots, 
some  twelve  hundred  men  landed  under  com- 
mand of  an  English  exile,  Colonel  Doleman. 
But  despite  the  heroic  efforts  of  the  "tall 
English  lieutenant-colonel"  who  led  them, 
efforts  which  extorted  the  admiration  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  who  held  the  fort  against 
him,  the  Dutch  were  driven  off.  At 
Portsmouth  and  elsewhere  similar  attempts 
were  made  but  with  no  greater  success  and, 
the  negotiations  then  in  progress  at  Breda 
having  been  expedited  by  this  exploit,  the 
Dutch  fleet  withdrew,  leaving  England  seeth- 
ing with  impotent  rage  and  mortification. 
Peace  was  signed  at  Breda  a  month  later,  on 
terms  influenced  in  no  small  degree  by  this 
notable  raid,  the  first  in  centuries  which  had 
brought  an  enemy  into  the  Thames. 

And  what  had  become  of  our  friend  Blood 
in  these  stirring  times?  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  organizer  of  Irish  rebellion, 
the  correspondent  of  English  revolutionary 
committee  and  Scotch  Covenanters,  and  the 
friend  of  De  Ruyter,  sat  quietly  apart  from  this 
turmoil  of  war  and  conspiracy.  Yet,  working 
underground  as  he  did,  like  a  mole,  it  is 
possible  to  trace  his  movements  only  by  an 


i 


CROWN-  STEALER  53 

occasional  upheaval  on  the  surface.  It  seems 
quite  certain  that  he  did  not,  like  so  many  of 
his  countrymen,  enlist  in  the  Dutch  service 
and  that  he  was  not  among  the  four  or  five 
thousand  troops,  mostly  English,  which 
manned  their  fleet,  nor  did  he,  like  them,  take 
part  in  the  attempt  to  storm  the  forts  covering 
Harwich.  On  February  13,  1666,  there  is  a 
secret  service  note,  that  Captain  Blood  may 
be  found  at  Colonel  Gilby  Carr's  in  the  north 
of  Ireland,  or  at  his  wife's  near  Dublin,  and 
that  the  fanatics  had  secretly  held  a  meeting 
at  Liverpool  and  put  off  their  rising  till  after 
the  engagement  of  the  fleets.  On  May  3, 
there  is  a  similar  note  concerning  a  man 
named  Padshall,  then  prisoner  in  the  Gate- 
house in  London,  that  if  he  is  kept  close  he 
may  discover  where  Allen,  alias  Blood,  lodges, 
or  "Joannes"  anas  Mene  Tekel,  and  the  note 
indicates  their  presence  in  the  city.  Then 
came  the  battle  of  the  North  Foreland  and  the 
failure  of  the  Dutch  to  crush  the  English  fleet. 
On  August  24th  we  learn  that  these  two  men, 
Blood  and  Jones,  have  gone  to  Ireland  to  do 
mischief.  There  another  plot  was  reported 
forming,  which  contemplated  the  seizure  of 
I  imerick.  But  this,  like  that  of  the  preceding 
year  on  the  Tower,  both  of  which  bear  a 
strong  family  resemblance  to  the  old  design 


54  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

on  Dublin  Castle,  were  discovered  and  de- 
feated. One  insurrection  alone,  as  we  have 
seen,  resulted  from  this  unrest,  the  rising  of 
the  Scotch  Covenanters  in  October.  And 
among  them,  according  to  advices  which 
came  to  the  administration,  was  Blood.  He 
had  evidently  found  the  Irish  plot  betrayed 
and  with  some  of  his  companions,  described 
in  the  accounts  of  the  Pentland  rising  as  "some 
Presbyterian  ministers  and  old  officers  from 
Ireland,"  hurried  to  the  only  chance  of  real 
righting.  That  was  not  great.  The  Coven- 
anters, cooped  up  in  the  Pentland  Hills,  were 
beaten,  dispersed  and  butchered,  before  con- 
centrated aid  could  be  given  them.  Blood, 
as  usual,  escaped.  He  seems  first  to  have 
sought  refuge  in  Lancashire  among  his  rela- 
tives. Thence  he  went  to  Ireland,  but,  landing 
near  Carrickfergus,  was  so  closely  pursued 
there  by  Lord  Dungannon  that  he  turned 
again  to  England,  and  by  the  first  of  the 
following  April  was  reported  to  the  govern- 
ment as  being  at  the  house  of  a  rigid  Ana- 
baptist in  Westmoreland.  From  there  he 
watched  the  government  unravel  the  web  of 
conspiracy  he  had  been  so  busy  weaving. 
Yet  even  here  lies  another  mystery.  In  1665, 
at  the  time  when  he  might  be  supposed  to 
have  been  most  active  against  the  government, 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  55 

his  wife  petitioned,  through  him  apparently, 
for  the  return  of  certain  property  seized  from 
her  father  by  one  Richard  Clively,  then  in 
prison  for  killing  a  bailiff,  and  in  December  of 
that  year  it  appears  that  certain  men  convicted 
of  attending  conventicles  are  to  be  discharged, 
and  the  order  is  endorsed  by  Blood.  More 
than  that,  there  is  a  petition  of  September, 
1666,  the  month  of  the  Fire,  noted  as 
"Blood's  memorial,"  requesting  a  permit  from 
Secretary  Arlington  that  the  "hidden  persons, 
especially  the  spies,  be  not  seized  till  they  are 
disposed  of."  From  such  data  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  Blood  was  playing  a  double 
part,  that  he  was,  after  all,  no  dangerous 
conspirator  but  a  mere  informer. 

And  this  brings  us  to  a  most  curious  phase 
of  this  whole  movement,  the  relation  of  the 
conspirators  to  the  government.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  no  small  number  of  those 
who  to  all  appearances  were  most  deeply  im- 
plicated in  conspiracy,  corresponded  at  one 
time  or  another  with  the  administration,  in 
many  instances  furnishing  information  of  each 
other  to  the  secretaries.  And  this  might  lead, 
indeed,  it  has  led,  many  to  imagine  that  the 
whole  of  these  vaunted  conspiracies  were,  after 
all,  nothing  but  what  we  should  call  in  the 
language  of  modern  crime,  "plants,"  devised 


56  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

and  executed  by  the  government  itself  for 
purposes  of  its  own.  There  is,  in  some  in- 
stances, evidence  of  this.  But  in  many  others 
it  is  apparent  that  this  is  not  a  full  explanation 
of  cases  like  that  of  Blood.  In  that  doubtful 
borderland  between  secret  service  and  con- 
spiracy it  was  often  possible  for  a  man  to 
serve  both  sides.  Having  engineered  a  plot 
and  acquired  money  and  arms  and  companions 
to  carry  it  out  a  man  not  infrequently  found 
himself  in  the  clutches  of  the  law.  The  officers, 
because  they  did  not  have  evidence  to  hang 
him,  or  because  they  hoped  to  gain  more  from 
him  alive  than  dead,  were  often  disposed  to 
offer  him  his  life,  even  his  liberty,  in  return  for 
information.  He,  on  his  part,  was  nearly 
always  ready  to  furnish  information  in  any 
quantity  and  of  any  sort,  in  return  for  this 
favour.  And,  if  he  were  shrewd  enough,  he 
might  amuse  his  captors  for  years  with  spec- 
ious stories,  with  just  enough  truth  to  make 
them  plausible,  and  just  enough  vagueness  to 
make  them  unusable,  and  ultimately  escape, 
meanwhile  carrying  on  the  very  plans  which 
he  purported  to  betray.  He  might  even  get 
money  from  both  sides  and  make  a  not  to  be 
despised  livelihood  from  his  trade.  This  is 
very  different  from  the  regular  informer,  who, 
like  Alden,  received  a  lump  sum  or  an  annuity 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  57 

from  the  government,  and  it  was  a  very  fair 
profession  for  a  man  with  enough  shrewdness 
and  not  too  much  conscience  in  those  troubled 
times.  If,  indeed,  Blood  were  such  a  man,  as 
seems  probable,  he  represented  a  considerable 
element  in  the  underground  politics  of  the 
early  Restoration.  And  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  no  small  proportion  of  the  men  who  were 
executed  for  actual  and  undeniable  complicity 
in  the  plots  were  of  just  this  type  and  had  at 
various  times  been  in  government  service,  only 
to  be  caught  red-handed  at  the  end.  And  that 
such  was  the  case  of  Blood  seems  to  be  proved 
by  the  fact  that  the  next  time  he  appears 
above  the  horizon  his  actions  seem  to  dissipate 
any  idea  of  permanent  accommodation  with 
the  government. 

The  arrests  and  examinations  which  suc- 
ceeded the  abortive  conspiracy  of  1663  had 
led  the  secretaries  of  state  into  many  dark 
ways  of  subterranean  politics,  and  they  had 
steadily  pushed  their  investigations  through 
the  years  of  the  war,  the  plague  and  the  fire. 
They  had  broken  up  one  group  after  another, 
pursuing  a  steady  policy  of  enlisting  the 
weaker  men  as  informers,  and  executing  or 
ing  in  prison  the  irreconcilables.  Among 
those  they  had  thus  discovered  had  been  a 
little  group,  the  "desperadoes,"  the  names  of 


58  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

some  of  whom  we  have  come  across  before, 
Blood,  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel  Lockyer, 
Jones,  the  author  of  Mene  Tekel,  and  a 
Captain  John  Mason.  The  last  had  been  taken, 
had  escaped,  and  some  time  during  the  Dutch 
war,  was  recaptured.  On  the  20th  of  July, 
1667,  while  the  Dutch  fleets  still  patrolled  the 
English  coast  and  the  peace  of  Breda  was  just 
about  to  be  signed,  warrants  were  issued  from 
the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  Keeper  of  the 
Tower  and  the  Keeper  of  Newgate  to  deliver 
Captain  John  Mason  and  Mr.  Leving  to  the 
bearer  to  be  conveyed  to  York  gaol.  This 
duty  was  assigned  to  a  certain  Corporal  Darcy, 
otherwise  unknown  to  fame,  who  with  some 
seven  or  eight  troopers  proceeded  to  carry  out 
his  instructions.  The  little  party  thus  made 
up  rode  north  by  easy  stages  for  four  days 
without  incident.  On  the  fourth  day  they 
were  joined  by  one  Scott,  a  citizen  of  York, 
apparently  by  profession  a  barber,  who,  not 
much  fancying  solitary  travel  in  that  some- 
what insecure  district,  sought  safety  with  the 
soldiers.  About  seven  o'clock  on  the  evening 
of  the  25th  of  August  the  little  party  entered 
a  narrow  lane  near  the  village  of  Darrington, 
Yorkshire,  and  there  met  a  most  extraordinary 
adventure.  As  they  rode  along,  doubtless 
with  no  great  caution,  they  heard  behind  them 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  59 

a  sudden  rattle  of  horses'  hoofs.  They  turned 
to  meet  a  pistol-volley  from  a  small  body  of 
well  armed  and  mounted  men,  and  a  demand 
for  their  prisoners.  Several  of  the  guard  were 
wounded  at  the  first  fire,  and  the  surprise  was 
complete.  But  Corporal  Darcy  was  not  a  man 
to  be  thus  handled.  He  faced  his  little  force 
about,  delivered  a  volley  in  return,  charged  his 
assailants  briskly  and  in  a  moment  was  the 
center  of  a  sharp  hand-to-hand  fight.  He  was 
twice  wounded  and  had  his  horse  shot  under 
him.  Three  of  his  companions  were  badly 
hurt.  Of  the  attacking  party  at  least  one 
was  severely  wounded1.  But  when  they  drew 
off  they  carried  Mason  with  them.  Leving, 
feeling  discretion  the  better  part  of  valour, 
took  refuge  in  a  house  near  by  and  after  the 
fight  surrendered  himself  again  to  the  stout 
corporal.  Scott,  the  innocent  by-stander  who 
had  sought  protection  with  the  soldiers,  was 

'Blood's  story  of  this  exploit  differs  in  some  unim- 
portant details,  all  reflecting  credit  on  himself.  He 
puts  the  number  of  his  party  at  four,  that  of  Darcy  at 
eight.  He  tells  how  he  happened  on  Darcy  at  an  inn 
near  Doncaster  when  almost  ready  to  abandon  the  pur- 
suit. He  explains  that  two  of  Mason's  party  lingered 
behind  and  were  put  out  of  action  by  Blood  and  one  of 
his  companions,  who  then  rode  on  to  demand  Mason 
from  his  guards  and  maintained  an  unequal  fight  with 
the  seven  men  in  Darcy's  party  for  some  time  before 
reinforced  by  their  two  fellows.  But  Darcy's  account 
supplemented  by  living's  is  much  clearer  and  at  least 
more  plausible. 


60  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

killed  outright,  the  only  immediate  fatality  in 
either  party,  though  some  of  the  troopers  died 
later  of  their  wounds.  The  corporal,  despite 
his  disabled  condition,  managed  to  get  one  of 
his  opponents'  horses  in  place  of  the  one  he 
lost,  and  rode  hurriedly  into  the  nearby  village 
for  help.  But  the  fearful  villagers  had  bar- 
ricaded themselves  in  their  houses,  and  were 
moved  neither  by  his  promises  nor  his  threats 
to  join  in  the  pursuit  of  the  desperadoes.  He 
had,  therefore,  to  be  content  with  giving 
information  to  the  nearest  justice,  sending 
after  them  the  hue  and  cry,  and  making  his 
way   to   York   with   his   remaining  prisoner. 

This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  one  Lev- 
ing.  And  with  him  we  come  upon  a  character, 
and  a  plot  beneath  a  plot,  which  well  illustrates 
the  times.  William  Leving,  or  Levings,  or 
Levering,  or  Leonard  Williams,  as  he  was 
variously  called,  was  very  far  from  being  the 
man  his  guards  thought  him.  It  must  have 
been  a  surprise  to  them  after  the  fight  to  see 
one  of  their  prisoners  instead  of  making  off 
with  the  rescuers,  render  himself  again  into 
their  hands.  But  the  explanation,  though 
the  good  corporal  and  his  men  did  not  know 
it,  nor  yet  the  governor  of  York  gaol  to  whom 
Leving  was  delivered,  was  only  too  well 
known  to  Captain  Mason's  friends,  and  ex- 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  61 

plain§  the  strange  conduct  of  the  Captain's 
fellow  prisoner  on  ofcher  grounds  than  mere 
cowardice.  Leving  had  been  deeply  impli- 
cated in  the  plots  of  1661  and  1662,  perhaps 
in  that  of  1663  as  well.  He  had  been  caught, 
and,  to  save  his  life,  he  had  "come  in,"  to  use 
an  expressive  phrase  of  the  time.  He  was,  in 
short,  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  govern- 
ment's spies.  It  was  he  who  had  given  news 
of  Blood  and  his  companions  in  Ireland.  It 
was  he  who  had  furnished  some  of  the 
information  on  which  the  government  was 
then  acting,  and  who  proposed  to  furnish 
more,  acquired,  possibly,  by  this  very  ruse  of 
sending  him  North  with  Mason.  And  it  was 
he  who  now  gave  to  the  justice  and  the  officers 
the  names  of  the  principal  rescuers,  Captain 
Lockyer,  Major  Blood,  and  Timothy  Butler, 
and  wrote  to  Secretary  Arlington  suggesting 
that  the  ways  into  London  be  watched  as  they 
would  probably  seek  refuge  there.  It  was 
little  wonder  that  Mason's  rescuers  had  sought 
to  kill  Leving,  or  that  he  had  sought  refuge 
in  flight  and  surrender. 

These  indeed  availed  him  little.  He  was 
kept  a  prisoner  at  York  even  after  it  appeared 
from  his  examination  who  and  what  he  was. 
This  was  doubtless  done  more  for  his  own 
safety  than  for  any  other  reason,  but  even 


62  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

this  was  not  effectual.  Not  many  weeks  later 
he  was  found  dead  in  his  cell.  Some  time  after 
another  informer,  similarly  confined  there, 
wrote  Arlington  a  terrified  letter  begging 
protection  or  release,  "that  he  might  not,  like 
Leving,  be  poisoned  in  his  cell."  Thus,  it 
appears,  his  enemies  found  him  out  even  there. 
And  that  you  may  not  think  too  hardly  of  the 
poor  spy,  it  may  be  added  that  on  his  dead 
body  was  found  a  letter,  apparently  one  he  was 
engaged  on  when  he  died,  completely  exoner- 
ating certain  men  then  in  hiding  for  the  great 
conspiracy.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  uncharitable 
to  hint  that  this  was  part  of  an  even  more 
subtle  plot  beneath  the  other  two,  and  that  his 
murderers  sought  to  shield  their  friends  out- 
side by  this  device.  York  gaol,  in  any  event, 
was  no  place  to  keep  men  disaffected  toward 
the  government.  From  the  Lord-lieutenant 
down  the  place  was  thick  with  discontent  and 
conspiracy.  Indeed  no  great  while  before 
the  Council  had  arrested  the  Lord-lieutenant 
himself,  no  less  a  person  than  one  of  their  own 
number,  the  great  Duke  of  Buckingham,  on 
the  charge  of  corresponding  with  the  sectaries, 
and  had  confined  him  for  some  time  in  the 
Tower. 

But    what,    meanwhile,    had    happened    to 
Mason  and  his  friends?    On  August  8th  they 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  63 

were  proclaimed  outlaws  by  name  and  a 
hundred  pounds  reward  was  offered  for  Lock- 
yer,  Butler,  Mason  and  Blood.  But  they  had 
disappeared,  as  usual.  Blood,  it  was  said,  had 
been  mortally  wounded,  and  was  finally  re- 
ported dead.  That  part  of  the  story,  at  least, 
was  greatly  exaggerated,  and  was,  no  doubt, 
spread  by  Blood  himself.  He  seems,  in  fact, 
to  have  retired  to  one  of  his  hiding  places  and 
there  recovered  from  his  injuries,  which  were 
severe.  The  rest  dispersed,  and  Mason,  we 
know,  found  his  way  to  London  where  three 
years  later  he  appears  in  the  guise  of  an  inn- 
keeper, still  plotting  for  the  inevitable  rising. 
To  us  this  seems  strange.  Our  minds  conjure 
up  a  well-ordered  city,  properly  policed  and 
thoroughly  known.  But  apart  from  the  fallacy 
of  such  a  view  even  now,  the  London  of 
Charles  II  was  a  far  different  place  from  the 
city  of  to-day  in  more  ways  than  its  size  and 
the  advances  wrought  by  civilization.  The  City 
itself  was  then  distant  from  the  Court.  The 
long  thoroughfare  connecting  them,  now 
the  busy  Strand,  was  then  what  its  name  im- 
plies still,  the  way  along  the  river,  and  was  the 
seat  of  only  a  few  great  palaces,  like  the  Savoy, 
and  the  rising  pile  of  Buckingham.  Beside 
what  is  now  Trafalgar  Square  stood  then,  as 
now,  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields.    But  the  fields 


64  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

have  long  since  fled  from  Piccadilly  and 
Whitehall.  Beyond  and  around  in  every  direc- 
tion outside  the  purlieus  of  the  Court  and  the 
liberties  of  the  City,  stretched  great  collections 
of  houses  and  hovels,  affording  rich  hiding 
places  for  men  outside  the  law.  The  inns 
abounding  everywhere  offered  like  facilities. 
Beneath  the  very  walls  of  St.  Stephen's  where 
Parliament  devised  measures  to  suppress 
conventicles,  those  conventicles  flourished. 
Among  their  numbers,  among  the  small  and 
secluded  country  houses  round  about,  among 
the  rough  watermen  and  sailors  along  the 
river,  in  wide  stretching  districts  where  the 
King's  writ  ran  with  difficulty  or  not  at  all, 
and  a  man's  life  was  safe  only  as  his  strength 
or  skill  made  it  so,  or,  it  was  whispered,  even 
among  some  of  the  great  houses  like  that  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  men  flying  from 
justice  might  find  safety  enough. 

Later  Mason  seems  to  have  been  joined  in 
London  by  Blood  and  the  old  practices  were 
renewed.  But  the  Major,  for  Blood  had  now 
by  some  subterranean  means  arrived  at  that 
title,  was  apparently  not  wholly  content  with 
this.  He  retired,  it  would  appear,  to  the  little 
village  of  Romford,  in  Surrey,  and  there, 
under  the  name  of  Allen  or  Ayloffe,  set  up — 
amazing    choice    among    all    the    things    he 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  65 

might  have  chosen — as  a  physician.  His  son- 
in-law  was  apprenticed  to  an  apothecary,  and 
thus,  with  every  appearance  of  quiet  and 
sobriety,  the  outlaw  began  life  again.  But  it 
was  not  for  long,  at  any  rate.  Most  likely, 
indeed,  this  whole  business,  if  it  ever  existed 
at  all,  was  a  sham.  For  on  May  28th,  1670, 
we  find  Secretary  Trevor,  who  had  succeeded 
Arlington  in  office,  ordering  the  Provost 
Marshal  to  search  out  and  take  in  custody 
Henry  Danvers  and  William  Allen,  alias 
Blood.  In  December  of  that  same  year  came 
the  assault  on  Ormond,  with  which  our  story 
began,  and  Blood,  under  his  alias,  was  for  the 
third  time  proclaimed  an  outlaw,  and  for  the 
third  time  had  a  price  set  on  his  head.  Surely, 
you  will  say,  this  is  enough  of  that  impudent 
scoundrel  who  so  long  disturbed  the  slumber 
of  His  Majesty's  secretaries,  and  flouted  the 
activities  of  their  agents.  And,  in  spite  of  the 
stir  raised  by  the  attempt  on  Ormond,  if  Blood 
had  disappeared  after  that  for  the  last  time,  he 
would  not  have  lived  again  in  the  pages  of 
history.  For  that  he  is  indebted  to  the  great 
exploit  which  at  once  ended  his  career  of  crime 
and  raised  him  above  the  ordinary  herd  of 
outlaws  and  criminals. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  the  Tower 
of  London  served  even  more  numerous  and 


66  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

important  purposes  than  it  does  to-day.  It 
was  then,  as  now,  a  depository  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  the  quarters  of  a  considerable 
body  of  troops,  which  served  to  overawe 
possible  disturbance  in  the  city.  But  in  1670 
it  was  also  the  principal  prison  for  political 
offenders,  and  it  was  the  place  where  the  state 
regalia,  the  crown,  the  orb,  and  the  scepter, 
were  kept.  Then,  as  now,  the  various  func- 
tions of  the  great  fortress  were  quite  distinct. 
The  visitor  of  to-day  passes  through  a  wide 
courtyard  to  the  main  edifice,  the  White 
Tower  of  William  the  Conqueror,  whose 
chambers  are  filled  with  curious  weapons  and 
armour.  He  may  climb  the  stone  stairs  to  see 
the  grim  apartments  once  reserved  for  men 
reckoned  dangerous  to  the  state,  and  gaze 
with  what  awe  he  can  muster  upon  the  imita- 
tion crown  jewels  set  out  for  the  delectation  of 
the  tourists.  Everywhere  he  finds  in  evi- 
dence the  guardians  of  these  treasures,  the 
unobtrusive  attendant,  the  picturesque  beef- 
eater, the  omnipresent  policeman,  and  if  he 
looks  down,  from  the  high  windows  he  may 
see  far  below  him  the  red  tunics  or  white 
undercoats  of  the  soldiers  on  parade  or  at 
work.  In  some  measure  this  was  true  in 
1670,  and  it  is  to  this  spot  we  must  now  turn 
our  attention.     We  have  already  seen  some 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  67 

of  the  characters  in  this  story  taken  to  or  from 
the  custody  of  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
and  our  steps  in  trace  of  our  hero  or  villain, 
as  you  choose  to  call  him,  have  often  led 
perilously  near  its  grim  portals.  At  last  they 
are  to  go  inside. 

Among  the  various  functionaries  in  and 
about  the  Tower  in  the  year  1670  was  one 
Edwards,  the  Keeper  of  the  Regalia,  an  old 
soldier  who  lived  with  his  wife  and  daughter 
within  the  walls,  his  son  being  away  at  the 
wars  on  the  Continent.  Some  time  after  the 
attack  on  the  Duke  of  Ormond  there  appeared 
one  day,  among  the  visitors  who  flocked  to 
see  the  sights  of  the  stronghold,  a  little  party 
of  strangers  from  the  country,  a  clergyman, 
his  wife  and  his  nephew.  They  visited  the 
usual  places  of  interest,  and  presently  under 
Edwards'  guidance,  were  taken  to  see  the 
regalia.  They  were  pleasant  folk  and  much  in- 
terested in  what  they  saw.  But  unfortunately 
while  looking  at  the  royal  paraphernalia  the 
lady  fell  ill  with  some  sort  of  a  chill  or  convul- 
sion. Her  husband  and  nephew  and  Edwards 
were  greatly  alarmed.  They  carried  her  to  Ed- 
wards' apartments  where  his  wife  and  daughter 
took  her  in  charge,  and  administered  cordials 
and  restoratives  until  she  recovered.  The 
clergyman  was  deeply  grateful.    lie  rewarded 


68  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

Edwards  generously  for  his  attention  and  they 
were  all  profuse  in  acknowledging  the  kind- 
ness of  the  Keeper's  family.  Nor  did  the 
matter  end  here.  From  this  little  incident 
there  sprang  up  an  acquaintance  which  rapidly 
ripened  into  friendship  between  the  two 
families.  The  clergyman  and  his  nephew  came 
in  from  time  to  time  on  visits.  The  nephew 
was  young  and  dashing,  the  daughter  was 
pretty  and  pleasing1.  They  were  obviously 
attracted  to  each  other,  and  their  elders  looked 
on  the  dawning  romance  with  favor.  So 
rapidly  did  the  matter  progress  that  the 
clergyman  presently  proposed  a  marriage  be- 
tween the  young  couple.  Edwards  was  not 
unwilling  and  on  the  9th  of  May,  1671,  the 
clergyman,  his  nephew,  and  a  friend,  with  two 
companions  rode  up  about  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing to  make  the  final  arrangements.  Mrs. 
Edwards,  however,  was  not  prepared  to  meet 
guests  at  so  early  an  hour  and  some  delay 
occurred.  To  fill  in  the  time  the  clergyman 
suggested  that  Edwards  might  show  the 
regalia  to  his  friend  who  had  never  seen  it. 
So  the  four  mounted  the  steps  to  the  room 
where    the    treasures    were    kept.     Edwards 


1The  Somers  Tracts  account  says  that  it  was  Ed- 
wards' son  and  a  pretended  daughter  of  Blood,  but  this 
is  almost  certainly  incorrect. 


CRO  WN  •  STEALER  69 

went  on  before  to  take  the  regalia  out  for 
exhibition.  But  as  he  stooped  over  the  chest 
to  get  them  he  was  seized  suddenly  from 
behind,  a  cloak  was  thrown  over  his  head,  he 
was  bound  and  gagged,  knocked  on  the  head 
with  a  mallet,  and  all  these  measures  having 
failed  to  prevent  his  giving  an  alarm,  he  was 
finally  stabbed.  One  of  the  men  with  him 
seized  the  crown  and  bent  it  so  that  it  went 
under  his  cloak.  The  other  put  the  orb  in  the 
pocket  of  his  baggy  breeches,  and  began  to 
file  the  scepter  in  two  that  it  might  be  more 
easily  carried.  But  as  they  were  thus  busied, 
by  a  coincidence,  surely  the  strangest  out  of 
a  play,  at  this  precise  instant  Edwards'  son, 
Talbot,  returned  from  the  wars,  bringing  a 
companion  with  him.  They  accosted  the  third 
man  who  had  remained  as  a  sentinel  at  the 
foot  of  the  stairs.  He  gave  the  alarm,  the  two 
men  ran  down  the  stairs  and  all  three  hurried 
off  toward  the  Tower  Gate.  But  there  fortune 
deserted  them.  Edwards  roused  from  his 
stupor,  tore  out  the  gag  and  shouted  "Treason 
and  Murder!"  The  daughter  hurried  to  his 
side  and  thence  to  Tower  Hill  crying, 
"Treason!  the  crown  is  stolen!"  Young 
Edward)  and  his  companion.  Captain  Beck- 
man,  took  up  the  alarm  and  hurried  to  the 
Keeper's  side.     Gaining  from  him  some  idea 


70  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

of  the  situation  they  rushed  down  and  saw  the 
thieves  just  going  out  the  gate.  Edwards 
drew  his  pistols  and  shouted  to  the  sentinels. 
But  the  warders  were  apparently  terrified  and 
young  Edwards,  Beckman,  and  others  who 
joined  the  pursuit  closed  in  on  the  outlaws. 
They  in  turn  aided  the  confusion  by  also 
crying  "Stop  Thief"  so  that  some  were 
deceived  into  believing  the  parson  a  party  to 
the  pursuit.  Beckman  seems  to  have  caught 
him  and  wrestled  with  him  for  the  crown, 
while  a  servant  seized  one  of  the  other  men. 
Beckman  and  Blood  had  a  most  "robustious 
struggle."  Blood  had  fired  one  pistol  at  Beck- 
man, and  when  they  grappled  drew  a  second 
and  fired  again,  but  missed  both  times.  The  ac- 
complices waiting  outside,  mounted  and  rode 
off  in  different  directions.  But  the  pursuit  was 
too  close.  Two  of  the  three  principals  having 
been  taken  almost  at  the  gate,  the  third  might 
have  got  away  but  was  thrown  from  his  horse 
by  running  into  a  projecting  cart  pole,  and 
captured  at  no  great  distance.  The  other 
accomplices,  two  apparently,  seem  to  have 
escaped.  The  prisoners  were  brought  back  to 
the  Tower  at  once  and  identified.  To  the 
astonishment  of  their  captors  the  clergyman 
was  found  to  be  our  old  friend  Blood,  the  so- 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  7 1 

called  nephew  was  his  son1,  the  third  man  an 
Anabaptist  silk  dyer,  named  Parret.  Warrants 
were  immediately  made  out  to  the  governor 
of  the  Tower,  Sir  John  Robinson,  for  their 
imprisonment;  Blood's  on  the  ground  of  out- 
lawry for  treason  and  other  great  and  heinous 
crimes  in  England;  young  Blood's  and  Par- 
ret's  for  dangerous  crimes  and  practices. 
Thus  fell  the  mighty  Blood  in  this  unique 
attempt  at  crime.  The  sensation  caused  by 
his  extraordinary  undertaking  was  naturally 
tremendous.  Newsletters  and  correspondence 
of  the  time  are  all  filled  with  the  details  of 
the  exploit,  for  the  moment  the  gravest  affairs 
of  state  sunk  into  insignificance  before  the 
interest  in  this  most  audacious  venture.  An 
infinite  number  of  guesses  were  hazarded  at 
the  motive  for  the  theft,  for  it  was  felt  that 


'Though  there  is  some  confusion  here.  The  cob- 
bler who  seized  him  exclaimed,  "This  is  Tom  Hunt 
who  was  in  the  bloody  business  against  the  Duke  of 
Ormond,"  and  Edwards'  account  to  Talbot  (Biog.  Britt. 
II,  366)  speaks  of  him  as  Blood's  son-in-law.  But  his 
pardon  was  certainly  made  out  to  Thomas  Blood,  Jr., 
and  there  is  no  mention  of  the  name  Hunt.  The 
explanation  probably  is  that  he  was  Thomas  Hunt, 
Blood's  son-in-law,  but  was  called  Blood  by  his  father- 
in-law,  and,  like  many  men  in  that  time,  used  either 
of  the  two  names  indifferently.  It  appears  from 
Talbot's  account  that  the  cobbler  and  a  constable  who 
came  up  took  Hunt  to  a  nearby  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
one  Smith,  who  was  about  to  release  him  when  news 
came  of  the  attempt  on  the  crown,  and  Hunt  was  then 
taken    back   to   the   Tower. 


72  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

mere  robbery  would  not  account  for  it.  It 
was  even  suspected  that  it  was  a  prelude  to  the 
assassination  of  the  king  and  the  proclamation 
of  a  usurper  who  hoped  to  strengthen  himself 
by  the  possession  of  the  regalia.  This  view 
was  reenforced  by  the  fact  that  the  Chancel- 
lor's house  was  entered  at  about  the  same  time 
and  nothing  taken  but  the  Great  Seal.  The 
darkest  suspicions  were  afloat,  and  the  relief 
at  the  capture  of  the  noted  outlaw  and  the 
failure  of  his  attempt  on  the  crown  was  intensi- 
fied by  the  sense  of  having  escaped  from  some 
vague  and  terrible  danger  which  would  have 
menaced  the  state  had  he  succeeded.  Broad- 
sides and  squibs  of  all  sorts  were  inspired  by 
the  exploit.  Among  others  the  irrepressible 
Presbyterian  satirist,  Andrew  Marvell,  char- 
acteristically improved  the  occasion  to  make 
it  the  subject  of  a  satire  on  the  Church,  as 
follows: 

ON  BLOOD'S  STEALING  THE  CROWN. 
When  daring  Blood  his  rent  to  have  regained 
Upon  the  English  diadem  restrained 
He  chose  the  cassock,  surcingle  and  gown, 
The  fittest  mask  for  one  that  robs  the  crown: 
But  his  lay  pity  underneath  prevailed. 
And  whilst  he  saved  the  keeper's  life  he  failed; 
With  the  priest's  vestment  had  he  but  put  on 
The  prelate's  cruelty,  the  crown  had  gone. 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  73 

The  proceedings  in  Blood's  case,  therefore, 
excited  extraordinary  interest,  which  was 
not  lessened  by  the  unusual  circumstances 
surrounding  it.  The  prisoners  were  first 
brought  before  Sir  Gilbert  Talbot,  the  provost- 
marshal1.  But  Blood  refused  absolutely  to 
answer  any  leading  questions  put  him  by  that 
official  as  to  his  motives,  accomplices,  and 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  his  exploit.  This 
naturally  deepened  the  interest  in  the  matter, 
and  increased  the  suspicion  that  there  was 
more  in  it  than  appeared  on  the  surface,  the 
more  so  as  the  outlaw  declared  he  would  speak 
only  with  the  king  himself.  To  the  further 
astonishment  of  the  world  this  bold  request 
was  granted.  Three  days  after  his  arrest,  on 
May  12,  he  was  taken  by  the  king's  express 
order  to  Whitehall  and  there  examined  by 
Charles,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  a  select  few 
of  the  royal  family  and  household.  The 
proceeding  was  not  quite  as  unusual  as  it 
seemed,  for  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  Restora- 
tion it  had  been  fairly  common  and  the  king 
had  proved  a  master  in  the  art  of  examination. 
But  it  had  been  given  up  of  late  and  its  revival 
seemed  to  indicate  a  matter  of  unusual  gravity. 
'The  man  need  not  despair,"  said   Ormond 


'He    seems    also    to    have    been    examined    by    Dr. 
Chamberlain  and  Sir  William  Waller. 


74  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

to  Southwell  when  he  heard  that  the  king  was 
to  give  Blood  a  hearing,  "for  surely  no  king 
would  wish  to  see  a  malefactor  but  with  inten- 
tion to  pardon  him."  But  this  opinion  was 
not  general  and  his  conviction  was  never 
doubted  by  the  world  at  large.  A  few  days 
after  his  examination  Secretary  Williamson's 
Dublin  correspondent  wrote  him  that  there 
was  little  news  in  Ireland  save  the  talk  of 
Blood's  attempt  on  the  crown,  and  he  voiced 
the  prevailing  sentiment  when  he  "hoped  that 
Blood  would  receive  the  reward  of  his  many 
wicked  attempts."  The  coffee  houses  talked 
of  nothing  else  and  all  London  prepared  to 
gratify  itself  with  the  spectacle  of  the  execu- 
tion of  the  most  daring  criminal  of  the  time1. 

But  in  this,  at  any  rate  for  the  present,  they 
were  to  be  disappointed.  Blood  was  remanded 
to  the  Tower,  and  there  held  for  some  time 
while  certain  other  steps  were  taken  to  probe 
the  case  deeper.    Two  months  later  Sir  John 


*It  was  hinted  that  Buckingham  had  set  Blood 
on  to  steal  the  crown  in  pursuance  of  some  of  his  mad 
schemes  for  ascending  the  throne.  And  it  is  also 
charged  that  the  King  himself  had  employed  the  out- 
law to  get  the  jewels,  pawn  or  sell  them  abroad  and 
divide  the  proceeds.  Beside  such  suggestions  as  these 
even  Blood's  letter  sinks  into  the  commonplace.  At 
all  events,  as  in  the  Ormond  affair,  it  was  and  is 
generally  believed  that  there  were  other  influences  at 
work  behind  his  exploit. 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  75 

Robinson  wrote  to  Secretary  Williamson  that 
Lord  Arlington  had  dined  with  him  the  Satur- 
day before,  and  had  given  into  his  hands 
certain  warrants,  not  as  every  one  supposed 
for  Blood's  execution,  but  for  his  release  and 
that  of  his  son.  Two  weeks  later  a  grant  of 
pardon  was  issued  to  him  for  "all  the  treasons, 
murders,  felonies,  etc.,  committed  by  him 
alone  or  with  others  from  the  day  of  His 
Majesty's  accession,  May  29,  1660,  to  the 
present,"  and  this  was  followed  by  a  similar 
grant  to  his  son.  Later,  to  complete  this 
incredible  story,  his  estates  were  restored  to 
him,  he  was  given  a  place  at  Court,  and  a 
pension  of  five  hundred  pounds  a  year  in  Irish 
lands.  Not  long  afterward  the  indefatigable 
diner-out,  John  Evelyn,  notes  in  his  diary  that, 
dining  with  the  Lord  Treasurer,  Arlington,  a 
few  days  before,  he  had  met  there,  among  the 
guests,  Colonel  Thomas  Blood.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  a  Londoner  wrote  in  early  August 
of  that  same  year:  "On  Thursday  last  in  the 
courtyard  at  Whitehall,  I  saw  walking,  in  a 
new  suit  and  periwig,  Mr.  Blood  exceeding 
pleasant  and  jocose — a  tall  rough-boned  man, 
with  small  legs,  a  pock-frecken  face  with 
little  hollow  blue  eyes."  And  in  September 
Blood  had  acquired  enough  credit,  apparently, 
not  only  to  get  a  new  grant  of  pardon  con- 


y 


76  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

firmed  for  himself  and  his  son,  but  others  for 
certain    of   his   former   companions   as   well. 

What  is  the  explanation  of  this  extraord- 
inary circumstance?  It  is  a  question  no  one 
has  yet  answered  satisfactorily,  and  it  has  re- 
mained one  of  the  many  unsolved  mysteries  of 
the  period,  along  with  the  murder  of  Sir 
Edmund  Berry  Godfrey  and  the  Popish  Plot. 
If  we  knew  fully  we  could  clear  up  many  dark 
ways  of  Restoration  politics.  We  have  certain 
second-hand  accounts  of  what  took  place  in 
that  memorable  interview  between  the  vaga- 
bond king  and  the  Irish  outlaw,  from  which 
we  may  get  some  light  on  the  matter.  The 
latter  "as  gallant  and  hardy  a  villain  as  ever 
herded  with  the  sneaking  sect  of  Anabaptists," 
in  the  words  of  a  contemporary,  we  are  told, 
"answered  so  frankly  and  undauntedly  that 
every  one  stood  amazed."  Snatches  of  Blood's 
comments  on  his  most  recent  exploit  have 
floated  down  to  us.  "It  was,  at  all  events, 
a  stroke  for  a  crown,"  had  been  his  remark 
to  Beckman  when  he  was  captured,  a  cool 
witticism  which  must  have  pleased  the  wittiest 
of  monarchs  when  it  was  repeated  to  him. 
"Who  are  your  associates?"  he  is  said  to  have 
been  asked,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  "would 
never  betray  a  friend's  life  nor  deny  guilt  in 
defense  of  his  own."     Blood  explained  to  the 


i 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  77 

king,  it  is  said,  that  he  thought  the  crown 
was  worth  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  when, 
in  fact  the  whole  regalia,  had  he  known  it, 
only  cost  six  thousand.  He  told  the  story  of 
his  life  and  adventures  with  much  freedom, 
and  it  must  have  been  a  good  story  to  hear. 
He  confessed  to  the  attempt  on  Dublin  Castle, 
to  the  rescue  of  Mason  and  the  kidnapping 
of  Ormond.  There  was  found  on  his  person  a 
"little  book  in  which  he  had  set  down  sixty 
signal  deliverances  from  eminent  dangers." 
And  one  may  remark,  in  passing,  that  it  is  a 
pity  that  it,  instead  of  the  dagger  with  which 
Edwards  was  stabbed,  is  not  preserved  in  a 
London  museum.  Perhaps  it  may  turn  up 
some  day,  and  allow  us  the  whole  story  as  he 
told  it  to  Charles.  Several  about  the  monarch 
contributed  their  information  of  Blood.  Prince 
Rupert,  in  particular,  recalled  him  as  "a  very 
stout,  bold  fellow  in  the  royal  service,"  twenty 
years  before.  But  the  thing  to  which  rumor 
credited  his  escape  and  which  was  reported  to 
have  made  his  fortune,  was  a  story  in  connec- 
tion with  the  king  himself.  A  plot  had  been 
laid  by  Blood  and  his  accomplices,  according 
to  his  account,  to  kill  the  king  while  he  was 
bathing  in  the  river  at  Battersea.  But  as 
they  hid  in  the  reeds,  said  the  outlaw  turned 
courtier,  with  their  victim  before  them,   the 


/ 


78  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

majesty  of  royalty  was  too  great — he  could 
not  fire  the  shot.  But,  he  continued,  there 
was  a  band  to  which  he  belonged,  three 
hundred  strong,  pledged  to  avenge  his  death 
on  the  king,  in  case  of  his  conviction. 

Doubtless  truth  lurks  amid  all  this.  It 
may  all  be  true.  Even  so  there  is  hardly 
material  here  for  pardon,  much  less  for  re- 
ward. Other  reasons  not  known  at  that  time, 
must  be  assigned  for  such  royal  clemency. 
One,  perhaps,  lies  in  this  letter  written  six 
days  after  the  examination: 

"May  19,  1 67 1.  Tower.  Col.  Blood  to 
the  King. 

May  it  please  your  Majesty  these  may 
tell  and  inform  you  that  it  was  Sir  Thomas 
Osborne  and  Sir  Thomas  Littleton,  both 
your  treasurers  for  your  Navy,  that  set 
me  to  steal  your  crown,  but  he  that  feed 
me  with  money  was  James  Littleton,  Esq. 
'Tis  he  that  pays  under  your  treasurer  at 
the  Pay  Orifice.  He  is  a  very  bold  vil- 
lainous fellow,  a  very  rogue,  for  I  and  my 
companions  have  had  many  a  hundred 
pounds  of  him  of  your  Majesty's  money 
to  encourage  us  upon  this  attempt.  I 
pray  no  words  of  this  confession,  but 
know  your  friends.    Not  else  but  am  your 


CRO  WN  •  STEALER  79 

Majesty's  prisoner  and  if  life  spared  your 
dutiful  subject  whose  name  is  Blood, 
which  I  hope  is  not  that  your  Majesty 
seeks  after." 

Surely  of  the  two  qualities  then  so  necessary 
in  the  court,  wit  and  effrontery,  a  plentiful 
supply  was  not  lacking  to  a  man  who  could 
write  such  a  letter  in  such  a  situation.  And 
his  daring,  his  effrontery  and  his  adventures 
undoubtedly  made  a  great  impression  on  the 
king. 

Another  reason  for  the  treatment  Blood 
received  was,  strangely  enough,  his  powerful 
influence  at  court.  It  will  be  remembered, 
in  connection  with  the  rescue  of  Mason,  that 
the  great  Duke  of  Buckingham,  Lord-lieuten- 
ant of  Yorkshire,  and  one  of  the  men  highest 
in  favour  at  court  and  in  the  country  at  large, 
had  been  arrested  on  a  charge  of  conspiring 
with  the  fanatics  against  the  throne.  He  had 
been  released,  and  was  now  not  only  again  in 
the  royal  favour,  but  was  one  of  the  leading 
men  in  the  ministry  of  the  .day,  the  so-called 
Cabal.  It  was  he  who  secured  the  interview 
with  the  king  for  Blood,  and  he  doubtless  lent 
his  influence  for  mercy.  And  there  was, 
perhaps,  a  deeper  reason  for  this.  Buckingham 
was  the  bitter  enemy  of  Ormond.  The  king, 
whatever  his  inclination,  could  not,  in  decency, 


V 


80  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

pardon  Blood,  after  his  confessing  to  the  at- 
tack on  Ormond,  without  at  least  some 
pretense  of  consulting  the  man  who  had  been 
so  maltreated.  He  sent,  therefore,  to  Ormond 
to  ask  him  to  forgive  Blood.  Lord  Arlington 
carried  the  message  with  those  private  reasons 
for  the  request,  which  still  puzzles  us.  Blood, 
meanwhile,  under  direction,  wrote  a  letter  to 
Ormond,  expressing  his  regret  in  unmeasured 
terms.  The  old  Duke's  reply  was  at  once  a 
lesson  in  dignity  and  loyalty.  "If  the  king 
could  forgive  an  attempt  on  his  crown,"  he 
said  proudly  to  Arlington,  "I  myself  may 
easily  forgive  an  attempt  on  my  life,  and  since 
it  is  his  Majesty's  pleasure,  that  is  reason 
sufficient  for  me,  and  your  lordship  may  well 
spare  the  rest  of  the  explanations."  But 
Ormond's  son,  and  his  biographer,  took  refuge 
in  no  such  dignity.  The  latter  declares 
roundly  that  Buckingham  instigated  the  at- 
tempt on  his  master.  And  not  long  after  the 
affair,  the  former,  the  gallant  young  Earl  of 
Ossory,  coming  into  the  royal  presence  and 
seeing  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  standing  by 
the  king,  his  colour  rose,  and  he  spoke  to 
this  effect: 

"My  lord,  I  know  well  that  you  are  at  the 
bottom  of  this  late  attempt  of  Blood's  upon 
my    father;    and    therefore    I    give    you    fair 


CRO  WN  -  S  TEALER  8 1 

warning  if  my  father  comes  to  a  violent  end 
by  sword  or  pistol,  or  if  he  dies  by  the  hand 
of  a  ruffian,  or  by  the  more  secret  way  of 
poison,  I  shall  not  be  at  a  loss  to  know  the 
first  author  of  it;  I  shall  consider  you  as  the 
assassin;  I  shall  treat  you  as  such;  and  wher- 
ever I  meet  you  I  shall  pistol  you,  though  you 
stood  behind  the  king's  chair;  and  I  tell  it 
you  in  his  Majesty's  presence  that  you  may  be 
sure  I  shall  keep  my  word." 

These   were    brave   words,    and   had    they 

come    from    other    lips    than    those    of    the 

I   Restoration    Bayard,    might    have    been    re- 

'  garded  as  mere  bravado.     But  he  had  proved 

\  his  courage  on  too  many  occasions  to  count 

this  lightly.     Scarce  five  years  before,  while 

visiting  Sir  Thomas  Clifford,  in  the  country, 

he  had  heard  the  guns  of  the  fleet  off  Harwich, 

in  the  fierce  battle  of  Lowestoft.     With  no 

commission    and    with    no    connection    with 

either  the  navy  or  the  government,  he  had 

mounted  a  horse,  and,  accompanied  by  his 

host,  had  ridden  to  the  shore  and  put  off  in 

an  open  boat  to  the  English  fleet  to  take  his 

part  in  one  of  the  hardest  day's  fighting  the 

English  fleet  ever  saw.    The  word  of  such  a 

man,  conspicuous  for  his  honesty  as  for  his 

i    courage,  was  not  to  be  lightly  set  aside.    And 

whether  this  threat  was  the  cause  or  not,  or 


82  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

whether  Buckingham  was  really  not  respons- 
ible for  an  assault  which  might  have  been  at- 
tributed to  Blood's  desire  for  revenge  on  the 
man  who  had  confiscated  his  estates  and 
hanged  his  brother-in-law,  the  old  Duke  was 
not  further  molested. 

But,  apart  from  these  matters,  there  is 
another,  and  one  may  be  permitted  to  think, 
a  more  serious  reason  for  Blood's  escape.  It 
lies  in  the  political  situation  of  the  time. 
This  was,  in  many  ways,  peculiar.  Some 
four  years  before  the  events  we  have  narrated 
in  connection  with  the  theft  of  the  crown  the 
administration  of  Clarendon  had  fallen  and 
had  been  succeeded  by  that  of  a  group  called 
the  Cabal,  whose  chief  bond  of  union  lay  in 
the  fact  that  they  ^ere  none  of  them  Anglicans 
and  they  were  all  opposed  to  Clarendon, 
They,  with  the  aid  of  the  king,  who,  largely 
through  tenderness  to  the  Catholics,  had 
never  favoured  the  persecuting  policy,  had 
relaxed  the  execution  of  the  Clarendonian 
measures,  and  had  thus  far  succeeded  in 
preventing  the  re-enactment  of  the  Con- 
venticle Act  which  had  expired  some  years 
before.  The  Anglicans  in  Parliament  had 
been  no  less  insistent  that  the  old  policy  be 
maintained  and  that  the  Act  be  renewed. 
The  king,   now  supported  by  his  ministers, 


CRO  WN  ■  STEALER  83 

was  no  less  eager  to  renew  the  attempt  which 
had  failed  under  Clarendon,  and  revive  the 
dispensing  power,  whereby  the  toleration  of 
Catholic  and  Protestant  Nonconformist  alike 
would  rest  in  his  own  hands.  This  situation 
was  complicated  by  the  fact  that  king  and 
ministers  alike  were  bent  on  another  war  with 
Holland.  It  seemed  highly  desirable  to  them 
to  pacify  the  still  discontented  Nonconformists 
before  entering  on  such  a  struggle,  particu- 
larly since  the  government  had  little  money 
and  must  rely  on  the  city,  which  was  strongly 
Nonconformist  in  its  sentiments.  It  seemed 
no  less  necessary  to  destroy,  if  possible,  that 
group  of  extremists  whose  conspiracies  were 
doubly  dangerous  in  the  face  of  a  war.  To 
gain  information  of  the  feelings  of  the  dis- 
senting bodies,  and  discover  what  terms  would 
be  most  acceptable  to  them,  to  track  down  and 
bring  in  the  fierce  and  desperate  men  from 
whom  trouble  might  be  anticipated,  to  dis- 
cover if  possible  the  connection  that  existed 
between  the  sects  and  those  in  high  places, 
these  were  objects  of  the  highest  importance. 
They  needed  such  a  man  as  Blood.  And  it 
seemed  worth  while  to  Charles  to  tame 
this  fierce  bird  of  prey  to  his  service  to 
achieve  such  ends  as  he  contemplated.  Some 
such  thought  evidently  occurred  to  the  king 


\ 


84  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

during  the  examination.  "What,"  he  is  said 
to  have  asked  bluntly  at  its  close,  "What  if 
I  should  give  you  your  life?"  Blood's  reply 
is  almost  epic,  "I  would  endeavor  to  deserve 
it." 

This,  at  any  rate,  became  his  immediate 
business.  Almost  at  once  he  was  taken  in 
hand  by  the  government,  and  it  was  soon 
reported  that  he  was  making  discoveries.  The 
arrest  of  three  of  Cromwell's  captains  is  noted 
among  the  first  fruits  of  his  information.  And 
close  upon  the  heels  of  his  pardon  came  the 
arrest  and  conviction  of  some  twenty-four  or 
twenty-five  irreconcilables1.  This  may  or 
may  not  show  the  hand  of  the  new  govern- 
ment agent,  but  the  circumstantial  evidence 
is  strong.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  through- 
out the  winter  of  167 1-2  Secretary  Wil- 
liamson was  in  close  consultation  with  Blood 
over  the  situation  and  the  demands  of 
Dissenters,  and  he  filled  many  pages  of  good 
paper  with  cryptic  abbreviations  of  these  long 
and  important  interviews,  in  which  are  to  be 
found  many  curious  secrets  of  conventicles 
and  conspiracies,  of  back-stairs  politics  and 
the  underground  connections  of  men  high  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation.    From  Blood,  from 


Variously  noted  as  20,  24  and  2j. 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  85 

the  Presbyterian  ministers,  through  one  or 
two  of  their  number,  and  from  sources  to 
which  these  communications  led,  the  court 
and  ministry  gradually  obtained  the  informa- 
tion from  which  a  great  and  far-reaching 
policy  was  framed.  This  took  form  in  the 
beginning  of  the  following  year  in  the  famous 
Declaration  of  Indulgence.  This,  taking  the 
control  of  the  Nonconformist  situation  from 
Parliament,  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  king. 
Licenses  were  to  be  issued  to  ministers  to 
preach,  to  meeting-houses,  and  to  other  places 
for  worship  which  was  not  according  to  the 
forms  or  under  the  direction  of  the  Anglican 
church.  The  policy,  owing  to  the  bitter 
opposition  of  Parliament,  lasted  but  a  few 
months,  but  it  marked  an  era  in  English 
history.  The  rioting  which  had  accompanied 
the  revival  of  the  Conventicle  Act,  and  which 
had  encouraged  the  government  to  try  the 
licensing  system,  disappeared.  For  a  few 
months  entire  religious  toleration  prevailed, 
and.  though  Parliament  forced  the  king  to 
withdraw  his  Declaration,  the  old  persecution 
was  never  revived.  In  this  work  Blood's 
share  was  not  small.  He  not  merely  furnished 
information,  he  became  one  of  the  recognized 
channels  through  whom  licenses  were  ob- 
tained, and  in  the  few  months  while  they  were 


86  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

being  issued  he  drove  a  thriving  trade.  And 
with  one  other  activity  which  preceded  the 
Dutch  war  he  was  doubtless  closely  connected. 
This  was  the  issuing  of  pardons  to  many  of 
those  old  Cromwellians  who  had  sought  refuge 
in  Holland  a  dozen  years  before.  No  small 
number  of  these,  taking  advantage  of  the 
government's  new  lenience,  came  back  from 
exile  with  their  families  and  goods,  and  took 
up  their  residence  again  in  England.  Thus 
Colonels  Burton  and  Kelsey,  Berry  and  Des- 
borough,  Blood's  brother-in-law  Captain 
Lockyer,  Nicholas,  Sweetman  and  many  others 
found  pardons  and  were  received  again  into 
England.  "Through  his  means,"  wrote  Mrs. 
Goffe  to  her  husband,  "as  is  reputed,  Des- 
borough  and  Maggarborn  [Major  Bourne?] 
and  Lewson  of  Yarmouth  is  come  out  of 
Holland  and  Kelsi  and  have  their  pardon  and 
liberty  to  live  quietly,  no  oath  being  imposed 
on  them."  "The  people  of  God  have  much 
liberty  and  meetings  are  very  free  and  they 
sing  psalms  in  many  places  and  the  King  is 
very  favourable  to  many  of  the  fanatics  and 
to  some  of  them  he  was  highly  displeased 
with."  It  might  have  been  that  the  regicides 
in  New  England  could  have  returned  but  the 
cautious  Mrs.  Goffe  warned  her  husband  not 
to  rely  on  the  favourable  appearance  of  affairs. 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  87 

"It  is  reported,"  she  wrote,  "that  Whally  and 
Goffe  and  Ludlow  is  sent  for  but  I  think  they 
have  more  wit  than  to  trust  them.,, 

In  the  third  great  measure  of  the  period, 
the  Stop  of  the  Exchequer,  Blood  naturally 
had  no  part,  but  when  the  war  actually  broke 
out,  he  found  a  new  field  of  usefulness  in 
obtaining  information  from  Holland,  in  ferret- 
ing out  the  tracts  which  the  Dutch  smuggled 
into  England,  in  watching  for  the  signs  of 
conspiracy  at  home.  Thus  he  lived  and 
flourished.  His  residence  was  in  Bowling 
Alley,  now  Bowling  Street,  leading  from 
Dean's  Yard  to  Tufton  Street,  Westminster, 
convenient  to  Whitehall.  His  favorite  resort 
is  said  to  have  been  White's  Coffee  House, 
near  the  Royal  Exchange1.  His  sinister  face 
and  ungraceful  form  became  only  too  familiar 
about  the  court.  His  bearing  was  resented 
by  many  as  insolent.  He  was  both  hated  and 
feared  as  he  moved  through  the  atmosphere 
of  intrigue  by  which  the  court  was  surrounded, 
getting  and  revealing  to  the  king  information 
of  the  conspirators,  of  the  Dutch,  and  the 
other  enemies  of  royalty.  His  was  not  a 
pleasant   trade  and   there  were  undoubtedly 

'Thus  Wheatley  and  Cunningham.  John  Timbs,  in 
his  Romance  of  London,  says  Blood  lived  first  in 
Whitehall,  then,  according  to  tradition,  in  a  house  on 
the  corner  of  Peter  and  Tuft.m   Streets. 


88  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

many  who,  for  good  reasons  of  their  own, 
wished  him  out  of  the  way.  There  were 
many  who  contrasted  his  reward  with  the 
neglect  of  the  unfortunate  Edwards,  and  who 
railed  at  Blood  and  the  king  alike.  Roch- 
ester allowed  himself  the  usual  liberty  of 
rhymed  epigram: 

Blood   that   wears   treason   in   his  face 

Villain  complete  in  parson's  gown 

How  much  is  he  at  court  in  grace 

For  stealing   Ormond  and   the   crozvn? 

Since  loyalty  does  no  man  good 

Let's  steal  the  King  and  out  do  Blood. 

There  were  doubtless  many  more  who 
regretted  that  the  king  had  not  bestowed 
on  him  a  reward  that  was  at  one  time  con- 
templated, the  governorship  of  a  colony,  the 
hotter  the  better.  In  that  event  America 
would  have  had  some  direct  share  in  the 
career  of  England's  most  distinguished  crim- 
inal. And  even  so  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
she  would  have  suffered  greatly  in  comparison 
with  the  situation  of  some  colonies  under  the 
governors  they  actually  had.  But  Blood  was 
far  too  useful  at  home  to  be  wasted  on  a  dis- 
tant dependency.  And,  on  the  whole,  the  out- 
law seems  to  have  fully  justified  his  existence 
and  even  his  pardon,  as  an  outer  sentinel  along 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  89 

the  line  of  guards  between  King  Charles  and 
his  enemies.  That  he  was  so  hated  is  perhaps, 
in  some  sort  a  measure  of  his  usefulness.  For 
the  times  when  men  in  the  ministry  or  just 
out  of  the  ministry  conspired  or  connived  at 
conspiracy  against  the  government  and  held 
communication  with  an  enemy  in  arms  to 
compel  their  sovereign  to  their  will  are  not 
those  in  which  a  ruler  will  be  too  squeamish 
about  his  means,  least  of  all  such  a  ruler  as 
Charles. 

In  such  wise  Blood  lived  until  1679.  Then 
he  seems  to  have  fallen  foul  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  who  had  played  such  a  great 
part  in  his  career.  lie.  with  three  others,  was 
accused  by  the  Duke  of  swearing  falsely  to  a 
monstrous  charge  against  his  Grace  and  sued 
for  the  crushing  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds. 
A  most  curious  circumstance  brought  out  by 
this  trial  connects  our  story  with  the  literature 
of  to-day.  In  Scott's  novel,  Peveril  of  the 
Peak,  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  villain 
is  one  Christian,  brother  of  the  deemster  of 
the  Isle  of  Man,  who  was  executed  by  the 
Countess  of  Derby.  This  man.  a  most  accom- 
plished  Scoundrel,  is  there  portrayed  as  the 
familiar  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  plays  a 
part  in  the  romance  very  like  that  which  he 
playfl    in    this    story    of    real    life.      With    the 


90  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

appearance  of  the  later  editions  of  the  novel 
the  author,  in  response  to  many  inquiries 
concerning  the  authenticity  of  the  various 
characters  there  portrayed,  added  some  notes 
in  which  he  gave  some  account  of  the  originals 
of  many  of  his  characters.  Concerning  Chris- 
tian, however,  he  declared  that  he  was  a  wholly 
original  creation,  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  no 
such  man  had  ever  existed,  and  that  he  was 
purely  a  fictitious  character.  Though,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  one  of  the  men  indicted  with 
Blood  in  this  action  at  law,  was,  in  fact,  named 
Christian,  and  Scott  knew  of  him.  And  while 
he  may  not  have  played  the  part  assigned  to 
him  in  the  story,  he  had  for  some  time  been 
in  the  service  of  the  Duke,  and  to  have  had 
a  reputation,  if  not  a  character,  which  might 
well  have  served  as  a  model  for  the  villain  of 
the  novel. 

The  motive  of  Buckingham  in  beginning 
this  suit  is  obscure,  but  it  was  suspected  that 
he  thought  by  this  means  to  hush  up  certain 
accusations  which  might  have  been  brought 
against  his  own  machinations,  then  scarcely  to 
be  defended  in  the  light  of  day.  The  curious 
and  unusual  procedure  and  the  absurdity  of 
the  charge  which  one  might  suppose  it  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  so  great  a  nobleman  to 
press  in  such  fashion  against  such  men,  lends 


CROWN   STEALER  91 

a  certain  colour  to  this  suspicion.  In  any 
event  the  suit  was  tried  and  Blood  was  duly 
found  guilty.  But  he  was  never  punished. 
He  fell  sick  in  the  summer  of  1680  and,  after 
two  weeks  of  suffering,  died  August  24,  in 
his  house  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Bowling 
Alley.  He  was  firm  and  undaunted  to  the  last 
and  looked  death  in  the  face  at  the  end  with 
the  same  courage  he  had  exhibited  many 
times  before.  All  England  was  then  in  the 
throes  of  the  excitement  of  the  Popish  Plot 
and  the  Exclusion  Bill,  and  civil  war  seemed 
almost  in  sight.  Whig  and  Tory  stood 
arrayed  against  each  other,  with  the  crown  as 
the  prize  between.  It  would  not  be  supposed 
that  the  death  of  the  old  adventurer  could 
have  caused  more  than  a  passing  ripple  of 
interest.  Quite  the  contrary  was  the  case. 
Strange  end  of  a  strange  story,  the  mystery 
which  surrounded  him  during  his  life  did  not 
altogether  end  with  his  death  and  burial. 
Even  that,  said  many,  was  but  one  of  the  old 
fox's  tricks.  And  to  prove  that  it  was  not  his 
body  which  had  been  interred  in  the  adjoining 
churchyard  of  New  Chapel,  Tothill  Fields, 
the  grave  was  opened  after  some  days,  the 
corpse  can iii  1  l.efore  a  coroner  and  identified 
by  the  curious  fact  that  one  of  the  thumbs  was 
twice  the  natural  size,  a  peculiarity  which  it 


V 


92  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

seems  would  have  betrayed  Blood  many  times 
during  his  life. 

Thus  ended  the  troubled  life  of  a  mysterious 
man.  If  his  end  was  not  peare  it  certainly  was 
not  worse  than  his  beginning.  Not  a  few 
persons  must  have  breathed  easier  at  the  final 
burial  of  the  secrets  which  died  with  him.  He 
was  not  without  some  literary  remains,  chief 
of  which  was  a  Life,  which  though  not  written 
by  his  own  hand,  gives  evidence  of  having 
been  written,  either  under  his  direction,  or 
from  material  furnished  by  him.  It  con- 
tains, as  perhaps  its  chief  matter  of  interest 
outside  the  facts  here  included,  not  many  of 
which  adorn  its  pages,  a  story  of  which  Blood 
seems  to  have  been  very  proud.  It  is  that  on 
one  occasion  some  of  the  men  in  his  following 
of  desperadoes  proved  unfaithful.  He  caused 
them  to  be  seized  and  brought  before  him  for 
trial  in  a  public  house.  There,  after  the  case 
had  been  set  forth  and  the  arguments  made, 
he  sentenced  them  to  death,  but  later  reprieved 
them.  This,  of  all  the  good  stories  he  might 
have  told,  is  left  to  us  as  almost  his  sole 
contribution  to  the  account  of  his  adventures. 
For  the  rest,  his  memory  was  promptly  em- 
balmed in  prose  and  verse,  mostly  libellous 
and  wholly  worthless,  from  any  standpoint,  of 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  93 

which  the  following  sample  may  suffice 
whether  of  history  or  literature: 

"At  last  our  famous  hero,  Colonel  Blood,, 
Seeing    his   projects   all   will    do    no   good, 
And   that  success  was  still   to   him   denied 
Fell  sick  zvith  grief,  broke  his  great  heart  and 
died." 

But  there  is  still  one  curious  circumstance 
about  his  family  which  it  would  be  too  bad 
not  to  insert  here,  and  with  which  this  story 
may  fittingly  conclude.  It  concerns  one  of  his 
sons  whom  we  have  not  met,  Holcroft  Blood. 
This  youth,  evidently  inheriting  the  paternal 
love  of  adventure,  ran  away  from  home  at  the 
age  of  twelve.  He  found  his  way,  through  an 
experience  as  a  sailor,  into  the  French  army. 
After  the  Revolution  of  1688  he  became  an 
engineer  in  the  English  service,  owing  chiefly 
to  his  escape  from  a  suit  brought  against  him 
by  his  enemies,  which  was  intended  to  ruin 
him  but  by  accident  attracted  to  him  instead 
the  notice  of  the  man  with  whose  visit  to 
England  our  story  began,  now  William  the 
Third  <>f  England  and  Holland.    This  became 

the  foundation  of  his  fortunes.  In  the  English 
Service  young  Blood  rose  rapidly  through  the 
long  period  «>f  wars  which  followed.  I  Ee  gained 

the  praise  of  the  great  Marlborough,  and  ulti- 


y 


94  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

mately  became  the  principal  artillery  com- 
mander of  the  allied  forces  in  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  dying,  full  of  honors,  in 
1707.  Meanwhile  Ormond's  grandson  and 
heir,  the  second  Duke,  distinguished  himself 
likewise  in  that  same  war  in  other  quarters, 
and  bade  fair  to  take  high  rank  as  a  com- 
mander. But  on  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  he 
took  the  Jacobite  side,  was  driven  into  exile, 
and  died  many  years  later,  a  fugitive  supported 
by  a  Spanish  and  Papal  pension.  Thus  did 
Fate  equalize  the  two  families  within  a 
generation. 

I  said  at  the  beginning  that  this  was  to 
be  the  story  of  the  greatest  rascal  in  English 
history,  but  I  am  not  so  sure  that  it  is,  after  all. 
It  may  be  only  the  story  of  a  brave  man  on 
the  wrong  side  of  politics  and  society.  For 
his  courage  and  ability,  thrown  on  the  other 
side  of  the  scale,  would,  without  doubt,  have 
given  him  a  far  different  place  in  history  than 
the  one  he  now  occupies.  What  is  the  moral 
of  it  all?  I  do  not  know,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  fall  back  on  the  dictum  of  a  great  man  in 
a  far  different  connection:  "I  do  not  think  it 
desirable  that  we  should  always  be  drawing 
morals  or  seeking  for  edification.  Of  great 
men  it  may  truly  be  said,  'It  does  good  only 
to  look  at  them.'  " 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  95 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE. 

The  story  here  told  has  been  related  else- 
where though  not  in  such  detail  nor,  so  far 
as  I  am  aware,  from  precisely  this  point  of 
view.  Apart  from  the  accounts  in  encyclo- 
pedias and  biographical  dictionaries,  of  which 
by  far  the  best  for  its  day  is  the  Biographia 
Brittanica,  the  most  accessible  source  of  in- 
formation is  the  article  on  Blood  in  the  Dic- 
tionary of  National  Biography  and  the  fullest 
details  are  to  be  found  in  W.  Hepworth 
Dixon's  Her  Majesty  s  Tower,  VOL.  IV, 
pp.  119,  and  in  a  note  (No.  35)  to  Scott's 
Peveril  of  the  Peak,  in  which  novel  the  Colonel 
plays  enough  part  to  have  a  pen-portrait  drawn 
of  him  by  Scott  in  a  speech  by  Buckingham. 

These,  of  course,  touch  but  lightly  on  the 
broader  aspects  of  the  matter.  The  sources 
for  nearly  all  the  statements  made  in  the 
foregoing  narrative  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Calendars  of  State  Papers,  Domestic  and 
Ireland,  1 660- 1 675,  in  the  Reports  of  the 
Historical  Manuscripts  Commission,  especial- 
ly in  the  Ormond  Papers  and  in  Carte's  Life 
of  Ormond.  In  1680  was  published  a  pamph- 
let entitled  Remarks  on  the  Life  and  Death 
of  the  Famed  Mr.  Blood,  etc.,  signed  R.  H., 
which  includes,  besides  a  general  running  ac- 
count of  several  of  the  outlaw's  chief  adven- 


96  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

tures,  a  curious  and  obscure  story  of  the 
Buckingham  incident  from  which  it  is  practi- 
cally impossible  to  get  any  satisfaction.  To 
this  is  added  a  Postscript  written  some  time 
after  the  body  of  the  work  and  describing 
Blood's  illness,  death  and  burial.  This  tract 
appears  to  have  been  written  by  some  one 
who  knew  Blood,  and  in  places  seems  to 
represent  his  own  story.  It  would  perhaps  be 
too  much  to  assume  from  the  similarity  of 
the  initials  that  it  was  composed  by  that 
Richard  Halliwell,  Hallowell  or  Halloway,  the 
tobacco  cutter  of  Frying-Pan  Alley,  Petticoat 
Lane,  whose  name,  or  alias,  appears  among 
those  often  connected  with  Blood  in  his 
enterprises.  Sir  Gilbert  Talbot's  narrative  of 
Blood's  adventures,  especially  valuable  for  its 
full  account  of  the  attempt  on  the  crown,  is  to 
be  found  in  Strype's  Conti?iuation  of  Stowes 
Survey  of  London.  Some  details  as  to  Blood's 
London  haunts  may  be  found  in  Wheatley 
and  Cunningham's  London,  Past  and  Prese?it. 
There  are  several  portraits  of  Blood  extant 
of  which  the  one  in  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery,  painted  by  Gerard  Soest,  is  the  best. 
This  is  reproduced  in  Cust's  National  Portrait 
Gallery, VOL.  I,  p.  163.  Another  which  appeared 
in  the  Literary  Magazine,  for  the  year  1791, 
is  evidently  a  copy  of  the  one  prefixed  to  this 


CRO  WN  -  STEALER  97 

study.  This  is  reproduced  from  a  contempor- 
ary mezzotint,  which  is  described  in  Smith's 
British  Mezzotinto  Portraits,  (Henry  Sotheran 
&  Co.,  Lond.,   1884),  as  follows: 

Thomas  Blood. 

H.  L.  in  oval  frame  directed  to  left  facing 
towards  and  looking  to  front,  long  hair, 
cravat,  black  gown.  Under:  G.  White  Fecit. 
Coll  Blood.  Sold  by  S.  Sympson  in  ye  Strand 
near  Catherine  Street.  H.  10;  Sub.  8H;  W.  JlA\ 
O.  D.  H.  8J4;  W.  7. 

I.  As  described.  II.  Engraver's  name  and 
address  erased,  reworked,  modern. 

Another  reproduction  of  the  same  original 
may  be  found  in  Lord  Ronald  Glower's 
Tower  of  London,  VOL.  II,  p.  66.  The  dag- 
gers of  Blood  and  Parret  which  were  used  to 
stab  Edwards  are  said  to  be  preserved  in  the 
Royal  Literary  Fund  Society's  museum, 
Adelphi  Terrace. 

The  family  of  Blood  among  the  earlier 
settlers  of  New  England  has  sometimes  been 
said  to  be  closely  connected  with  that  of 
the  Colonel,  but  there  is  no  substantial  evi- 
dence either  way.  (Mass.  Hist.  Coll.)  On 
the  other  hand  a  tablet  to  the  memory  of 
Blood's  cousin,   Neptune,  is  to  be  found  in 


98  COLONEL  THOMAS  BLOOD 

Kilfernora  Cathedral  {Proc.  Roy.  Soc.  Antiq. 
Irel.  1900,  p.  396).  A  note  says  that  he  was 
the  son  and  namesake  of  his  predecessor  in 
the  Deanery  and  grandson  of  Edmond  Blood 
of  Macknay  in  Derbyshire  who  settled  in  Ire- 
land about  1595  and  was  M.  P.  for  Ennis  in 
161 3.  A  fuller  account  of  the  plots  is  to  be 
found  in  articles  by  the  author  of  this  sketch 
in  the  American  Historical  Review  for  April 
and  July,  1909,  under  title  of  English  Con- 
spiracy and  Dissent,  1660-1674.. 


St 


/ 


3 


^%°\ 


14  DAY  USE 

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Mll43<Jb* 


1911 


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